FILESTREAM in SQL Server 2008 cannot be used on FAT systems?

Question

According to this article: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb933993.aspx

the FILESTREAM type is used for NTFS systems. Does that mean it can't be used on FAT systems?

Answer 1

Correct, it means it can't be used on a system drive that is FAT. It must be used on a drive that is NTFS or you will get an error like this:

Msg 5134, Level 16, State 2, Line 1

The path that is specified by 'Z:\FATFormatted\yourfile.jpg' cannot be used for FILESTREAM files because it is not on a supported file system.

Answer 2

Let me forumlate it nicely:

There is not a single reason on this planet to ever use FAT for that. How can such a question ever come up?

FAT is unsafe, prone to corruption, does not support metadata / streams and in general is not recommended for anything than transportable items - such as SSD cards because most for example cameras suport FAT only.

SQL Server databases are high performance and I Can not imagine why anyone would like to have any item on a FAT partition for a server. MS thinks the same. And no, removable media are a terrible location for a SQL Server database part.

And yes, NTFS requirement OBVIOUSLY means no FAT.