FAT File System (Windows Embedded CE 6.0)
The file allocation table (FAT) file system has been used almost since the invention of personal computers, and today is supported by virtually all operating systems for personal computers. Although FAT imposes limitations on file size (4 GB), volume formatting capacity, and so on, FAT remains the file system of choice for manufacturers of portable media. FAT is robust, relatively simple, and easy to implement in firmware.
The FAT driver works with any external storage cards that you can plug into your device, such as Advanced Technology Attachment (ATA) cards, linear flash cards, and, primarily, PC cards.
As mobile device functionality improves and media sizes increase correspondingly to accommodate large files such as multimedia files, you might want to consider using the new Extended FAT File System (exFAT). It also implements improved security features such as access control lists, and enables you to include support for the Transaction-Safe Extended FAT File System (TexFAT) to protect against file and database corruption.
The following topics cover aspects of the FAT file system:
