ReFS

Also known as Resilient File System, Protogon, Microsoft ReFS

Resilient File System (ReFS), codenamed "Protogon", is a Microsoft proprietary file system introduced with Windows Server 2012 with the intent of becoming the "next generation" file system after NTFS.

Key facts

File system.developer: Microsoft
File system.name: ReFS
File system.full_name: Resilient File System
File system.directory_struct: B+ tree
File system.max_volume_size: 35 petabytes by Windows; 2 bytes with 16KB cluster size (2 × 16 × 2) in theory
File system.max_file_size: 35 petabytes by Windows; 2−1 bytes in theory
File system.attributes: Yes
File system.compression: No
File system.data_deduplication: Yes, since v3.2 debuting in 2016 v1709
File system.introduction_os: Windows Server 2012
File system.copy_on_write: Yes

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Image: Resilient File System.png

Show 1 more fact

publication date: 2012-08-01

via Wikidata · CC0

~18 min read

Article

19 sections

Contents

Comparison with NTFS
Major new features
Improved reliability for on-disk structures
Built-in resilience
Compatibility with existing APIs and technologies
NTFS features missing from ReFS
Implementations
History
Server 2016
Server 2022
Server 2025
Server vNext
Versions
Known problems
Comparison with other file systems
Reverse engineering and internals
See also
References
External links

ReFS was designed to overcome problems that had become significant over the years since NTFS was conceived, relating to changes in data storage requirements. These requirements arose from two major changes in storage systems and usage (the size of storage in use large or massive arrays of multi-terabyte drives now common), and the need for continual reliability. As a result, the file system needs to be self-repairing (to prevent disk checking from being impractically slow or disruptive), along with abstraction or virtualization between physical disks and logical volumes.