HFAT: Log-Based FAT File System Using Dynamic Allocation Method

Several attempts have been made to add journaling capability to a traditional file allocation table (FAT) file system. However, they encountered issues such as excessive system load or instability of the journaling data itself. If journaling data is saved as a file format, it can be corrupted by a user application. However, if journaling data is saved in a fixed area such as a reserved area, the storage can be physically corrupted because of excessive system load. To solve this problem, a new method that dynamically allocates journaling data is introduced. In this method, the journaling data is not saved as a file format. Using a reserved area and reserved FAT status entry of the FAT file system specification, the journaling data can be dynamically allocated and cannot be accessed by user applications. The experimental results show that this method is more stable and scalable than other log-based FAT file systems. HFAT was tested with more than 12,000 power failures and was stable.