File Limitations
R. C. White
How big is your drive?
There is no limit to the number of files in a folder - until you run out of
room on that disk volume. This is true for any MS file system since about
DOS 6. The file system treats a subdirectory like any other file and will
extend it as it needs more space to hold more entries - indefinitely - until
the volume is full. Even before DOS 6, only the Root directory was limited;
subdirectories were not.
Well, there is a theoretical limit. For NTFS under Win2K it's 2^32 -1, or
over 4 billion files per volume!
RC
--
R. C. White, CPA
San Marcos, TX
r...@corridor.net
"Paul" <ward...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:10b5d01c1a99a$0e558d30$35ef2ecf@TKMSFTNGXA11...
> What is the maximum number of files that NTFS 5/6 allows
> in a folder???
>
> Thanks
>
> Paul
David Howell
A further question on this issue.
What is recommended best paractice on number of files per directory? Know
this is probably related to block size, but looking for some sort of
alogrithm.
Testing the waters of storing thousands of pre-formatted xml files with
mostly static data to be server by a web-site. I currently have a Feed
application that has built up an archive of thousands of CSV files, and the
box seems to be bottenecking somewhere.
Thanks in advance
David
"R. C. White" <RCW...@msn.com> wrote in message
news:utsJnEaqBHA.2520@tkmsftngp02...
R. C. White
> What is recommended best paractice on number of files per directory?
I have no idea. I'm just one guy with one computer and no network but the
Internet.
RC
--
R. C. White, CPA
San Marcos, TX
r...@corridor.net
"David Howell" <ho...@worldonline.co.za> wrote in message
news:e3YXOSjvBHA.1396@tkmsftngp02...
Jill Zoeller [MS]
pasting the text below.
Short file names
Every time you create a file with a long file name, NTFS creates a second
file entry that has a similar 8.3 short file name. A file with an 8.3 short
file name has a file name containing 1 to 8 characters and a file name
extension containing 1 to 3 characters. The file name and file name
extension are separated by a period.
If you have a large number of files (300,000 or more) in a folder, and the
files have long file names with the same initial characters, the time
required to create the files increases. The increase occurs because NTFS
bases the short file name on the first six characters of the long file name.
In folders with more than 300,000 files, the short file names start to
conflict after NTFS uses all of the 8.3 names that are similar to the long
file names. Repeated conflicts between a generated short file name and
existing short file names cause NTFS to regenerate the short file name from
6 to 8 times.
To reduce the time required to create files, you can use the fsutil behavior
set disable8dot3 command to disable the creation of 8.3 short file names.
(You must restart your computer for this setting to take effect.)
<<This command isn't available in W2K, but there is a way to do this in the
registry, but I don't have this info handy. There should be a KB article on
this. Also, don't disable short file names on a server that stores DFS a
root.>>
If you want NTFS to generate 8.3 names, you can improve performance by using
a naming scheme in which long file names differ at the beginning instead of
at the end of the name.
Folder structure
NTFS supports volumes with large numbers of files and folders, so create a
folder structure that works best for your organization. Some guidelines to
consider when designing a folder structure include:
a.. Avoid putting a large number of files into a folder if you use
programs that create, delete, open, or close files quickly or frequently.
The better solution is to logically separate the files into folders so that
you can distribute the workload on multiple folders at a time.
b.. If there is no way to logically separate the files into folders, put
all the files into one folder, and then disable 8.3 file name generation. If
you must use 8.3 names, use a file naming scheme that ensures that the first
six characters are unique.
Important
a.. The time required to run Chkdsk.exe increases with larger folders.
--
This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties, and confers no rights.
"R. C. White" <RCW...@msn.com> wrote in message
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