Richard Cabot posted an update 7 weeks ago No folders found. Please create and select folder. Documents Folder Title Following special characters are not supported: \ / ? % * : | " < > Privacy Public All Members My Connections Only Me Cancel Create x69brucetsept98.txt 5 KB Text File - Click to view Options Copy Download Link Media Format for InterchangeAuthor: Bruce Tulloch, Discrete Time Systems Pty. Ltd.Date: September 21, 1998Prepared for consideration by AES-X69 at AES105.As part of the work of SC-06-01 this project has been established to make recommendations for media format for data interchange where physical exchange of media is used. The issues raised in this document are not directly relevant where exchange takes place over a network. To facilitate physical data interchange it is necessary that all compliant systems can read and write the exchanged media. This requires AES-X69 to make recommendations for: ¥ the physical interface to the media, and Ê ¥ the media format a.k.a file system. This document explores options for the latter only. It is assumes that SCSI will be specified as the physical media interface. ObjectivesAny file system suitable for SC_06_01 interchange should support: ¥ Large devices (i.e. >4 Gb capacity). Ê ¥ Large files (i.e., at least 4 Gb). Ê ¥ Arbitrary file names of reasonable length. Ê ¥ Efficient access to large files. Ê ¥ Efficient directory lookup to large directories. ¥ Controlled disk fragmentation. In addition to these technical issues, there are functional, commercial and implementation issues to be considered such as: ¥ Deployment of the file system on existing platforms. Ê ¥ Availability of third party file system management tools. Ê ¥ Availability of file system development tools and sources. Ê ¥ Suitability for implementation on target platforms. Ê ¥ Open vendor and platform neutral licensing terms.OptionsThere are a large number of file systems available for consideration by AES-X69. These are the contenders: ¥ FAT the original MS-DOS file systems. Ê ¥ VFAT Windows 95 enhanced version of FAT. Ê ¥ FAT32 the Windows 95/98 file system. Ê ¥ HFS the original Macintosh Hierarchical File System. Ê ¥ HFS+ the new Macintosh file system released with MacOS 8.1. Ê ¥ NTFS Windows NT file system. Ê ¥ FLFS the Fairlight MFX3 file system. Ê ¥ EXT2 the native Linux file system. Ê ¥ UDF 2.0 the OSTA defined Universal Disk Format. There are others that have not been considered here such as OS/2Õs HPFS, BerkeleyÕs UFS or XFS. Ê EliminationRather than provide an exhaustive ranking of these file systems, IÊwill consider them in light of limitations that could reasonably be considered to rule them out. Lack of large device and file support: None of FAT, VFAT and HFS file systems support large devices or large files. All are ruled out for further consideration. Inappropriate licensing terms: NTFS and HFS+ are potentially viable candidates except that both are only made available to third parties under highly restrictive licences requiring NDA. For this reasons neither is considered further here. ContendersThe contenders are therefore FAT32, FLFS, EXT2 and UDFÊ2.0. UDF 2.0 meets all major technical requirements for interchange. The Optical Storage Technology Association states ÒThe primary goal of the OSTA UDF is to maximize data interchange and minimize the cost and complexity of implementing ECMA 167Ó ECMA 167 is the more general standard upon which UDFÊis based. While both ECMAÊ167 and UDF 2.0 are fully documented and major vendors such as Microsoft and Apple have stated their intention to support it in future, UDF 2.0 is not yet in wide use. As a consequence few if any file system development and management tools exist and this author has no knowledge of any practical experience gained in the field from its use. Therefore, while UDF 2.0 is a worthy contender for the future, it is this authorÕs view that it would be premature to specify it for AES-X69 at this time. EXT2 is an attractive alternative. It meets the technical requirements for interchange, has many years of heavy duty use behind it and a large installed base. The sources are freely and widely available and the licensing terms are open (GNU). EXT2 is the native Linux file system. Ports to Win 95/98, NT and Mac exist but they would require considerable work before they would be robust enough for interchange. Further, it is unlikely in the short term that third party file system management and development tools will exist for EXT2. FLFS is FairlightÕs proprietary file system designed for high performance digital audio storage and retrieval. Fairlight has offered to make FLFSÊavailable to AES-X69 for interchange purposes. Apart from the limited installed base and no tools on platforms other than OS9, the comments applicable to EXT2 are applicable to FLFS. FAT32 is MicrosoftÕs solution to the limitations of FATÊand VFAT. It meets the requirements of interchange and is widely deployed being integral to Win98 and recent Win95 releases. An extensive range of management tools exist and it is now supported by Apple on Macintosh via PCÊExchange V2.2 under MacOS. A freeware version is also available under Linux. Ê VerdictIt is the authorÕs view that FAT32 is the best contender for interchange in the short term subject to any licensing issues that may exist with Microsoft. In the longer term UDFÊ2.0 holds considerable promise. ends Expand 0 Comments Public All Members My Connections Only Me PublicAll MembersMy ConnectionsOnly Me Public All Members My Connections Only Me
