Question

Explain the differences between MBR and GPT and why you might decide to use one over the other. This initial response must be a minimum of 150 words and address the question being asked.

Answer 1

Total of 263 words are used

ANSWER:

The different ways of storing the partitioning information on a drive include MBR which stands for Master Boot Record and GPT which is GUID Partition Table. These partitions are to be done on a disk drive before using it. MBR gives the first sector of the drive and tells where and how to load the Operating System in the computer. GPT is used for the same purpose with UEFI startup. Now coming to the differences among them, MBR is old and more frequently used and GPT is a new disk layout. MBR limits the storage space of the disk to 2TB. GPT limits the storage to 9.44ZB where the volume would be 2^64 blocks. MBR supports primary partitions up to 4 and if there’s requirement of more, 1 extended partition can be done. GPT on the other hand, can have as many as 128 primary partitions. MBR is related to BIOS. GPT is related to UEFI. MBR disk has the boot data and partitioning data stored in one place, loss of this would lead to problems and isn’t recoverable, it also can’t know if the data is corrupted beforehand. GPT is recoverable as the data has multiple copies stored across the disk, it can check if the data is intact and can act accordingly hence it is more reliable. MBR is used on older versions of windows as well. GPT is used in newer versions and there’s a way to convert into MBR. I’d prefer using GPT over MBR as GPT overcomes the limitations in MBR and has more features as stated above.

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