HDD file storage structure and types of format

1. Definition of file system

- A structure used by an operating system to organize and manage files on a storage device

- Structure or logical rules that name fragmented data and make it easier to identify the data

- The file system is divided into different types depending on the operating system and HDD capacity,

and the act of configuring the file system to fit the environment for data storage is called ‘format’

2. HDD Area structure

- HDD area can be divided into two, file system area and data storage area

- Depending on the type of format, the file system area and data storage area processing method can

be differ

3. Types of format

Types	Quick Format	Recommend High Level Format	Low Level Format
Method	* Reset only file system area * Remain data storage area * Existing data is deleted as new data is overwritten	* Reset only file system area * Data storage area is Zero Fill	* Disk factory reset * Initialize each sector on the disk one by one
Process	Proceeded in the operating system	Proceeded in the operating system	Require separate software
Note	* Formatting is very fast because it only resets the file system * Because data storage area is preserved, most of past data can be recovered if it was formatted in recent time	* Able to detect bad sectors while performing disk inspection (Non-recoverable) * Difficult to recover past data as it fills up the data storage area with’00 * It takes quite a long time to fill up data storage with '00'	* Detects bad sectors and can recover if they are logical bad sectors * Unable to recover past data as it becomes factory reset status * Causes significant stress on HDDs as it reviews all sectors

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