There are many types of common file systems in computing you should be familiar with. Some are based on operating systems while others are based on technology.
| File System | Description |
|---|---|
| FAT | File Allocation Table (FAT) is an older file system that is compatible with many different operating systems, including all versions of Unix, Windows, and macOS. It does not provide the same capabilities as more modern file systems and is typically used for compatibility reasons. Improved versions include FAT32 and exFAT. |
| exFAT | exFAT (Extended File Allocation Table) is a file system introduced by Microsoft in 2006 and optimized for flash memory such as USB flash drives and SD cards. exFAT is proprietary, and Microsoft owns patents on several elements of its design. exFAT can be used where NTFS is not a feasible solution (due to data-structure overhead), but a greater file-size limit than the standard FAT32 file system (i.e. 4 GiB) is required. |
| ext2 | ext2 is the original native Linux file system for older releases. Though it is still supported in current releases of Linux, it should be upgraded to ext3 or ext4 depending on your system. |
| ext3 | ext3 is the upgrade of ext2. In case of an abrupt system shutdown, ext3 is faster in recovering data and can ensure data integrity. You can easily upgrade your file system from ext2 to ext3. |
| ext4 | This is one of two default file system for Linux distributions. It is backwards-compatible with the ext2 and ext3 file systems. Improvements that come with ext4 are journaling, support of volumes of up to one exbibyte (EiB), and files up to 16 tebibyte (TiB) in size. ext4 is also the default file system for Ubuntu installations. |
| XFS | XFS is a 64-bit, high-performance journaling file system that provides fast recovery and can handle large files efficiently. XFS is the default file system for CentOS/RHEL 7 installations and used often in enterprise environments. |
| NTFS | The New Technology File System (NTFS) is a proprietary file system created by Microsoft as the primary file system for Windows. NTFS provides many enhanced features over FAT, including file- and folder-level security, file encryption, drive compression, and scalability to very large drives and files. |
Sources: Wikipedia