Large-file support: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 10:21, 25 March 2022

Revision as of 20:15, 6 July 2023

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'''Large-file support''' ('''LFS''') is the term frequently applied to the ability to create files larger than either 2 or 4 [[Gibibyte|GiB]] on [[32-bit]] [[filesystem]]s.

This limitation was challenged due to increasing hard disk capacities and the growth of server and desktop file usage, particularly for multimedia and database files. In response, an industry initiative called the Large File Summit was formed in 1996 to transition to 64-bit file sizes, which allowed for LFS. This change, however, required considerable modifications and led to several deployment issues. The adoption of LFS was slow and incomplete for a long time, but the shift towards 64-bit computing, both in PCs and mobile devices, has gradually resolved this issue. By 2020, the need for large-file support in program code became largely obsolete, except for certain embedded systems. Related issues include the year 2038 problem and block number limitations for mass storage media, both associated with 32-bit system constraints.

==Details==