1 00:00:00,170 --> 00:00:02,696 File systems and hard drives. 2 00:00:02,696 --> 00:00:05,399 Another aspect of hardening your operating system is 3 00:00:05,399 --> 00:00:08,633 determining exactly what file system it should utilize. 4 00:00:08,633 --> 00:00:10,693 The level of security of your system 5 00:00:10,693 --> 00:00:12,710 is affected by its file system type. 6 00:00:12,710 --> 00:00:14,673 There are many different file systems 7 00:00:14,673 --> 00:00:16,172 available to choose from. 8 00:00:16,172 --> 00:00:18,938 We have things like NTFS, FAT32, 9 00:00:18,938 --> 00:00:22,286 ext4, the Hierarchical File System Plus, 10 00:00:22,286 --> 00:00:24,308 and the Apple File System. 11 00:00:24,308 --> 00:00:26,497 Windows systems can utilize either 12 00:00:26,497 --> 00:00:28,747 NTFS or FAT32 file systems. 13 00:00:29,757 --> 00:00:31,122 It's highly recommended, though, 14 00:00:31,122 --> 00:00:33,614 that you use the NTFS file system. 15 00:00:33,614 --> 00:00:37,026 NTFS stands for the New Technology File System, 16 00:00:37,026 --> 00:00:39,469 and it's the default file system format for 17 00:00:39,469 --> 00:00:42,483 Windows because it's more secure than FAT32. 18 00:00:42,483 --> 00:00:46,324 It supports logging, encryption, larger partition sizes, 19 00:00:46,324 --> 00:00:49,769 and larger file sizes than FAT32 does. 20 00:00:49,769 --> 00:00:52,006 If your Windows system is running FAT32, 21 00:00:52,006 --> 00:00:55,385 you can convert it to NTFS without losing any data, though. 22 00:00:55,385 --> 00:00:58,350 The easiest method to do this is to open a command prompt 23 00:00:58,350 --> 00:01:00,505 and type convert, the drive letter, 24 00:01:00,505 --> 00:01:04,506 and then /FS:NTFS and hit enter. 25 00:01:04,506 --> 00:01:06,942 This technique is something you should have 26 00:01:06,942 --> 00:01:08,733 learned during your A+ studies. 27 00:01:08,733 --> 00:01:11,024 If you're using a Linux system, you should 28 00:01:11,024 --> 00:01:13,447 format the hard drive as ext4. 29 00:01:13,447 --> 00:01:15,739 If you're using a Mac OS X system, you should use 30 00:01:15,739 --> 00:01:17,996 Apple's File System since it is the 31 00:01:17,996 --> 00:01:21,247 newest and most secure one supported by Apple. 32 00:01:21,247 --> 00:01:23,064 In addition to choosing the right type of 33 00:01:23,064 --> 00:01:24,847 file system, as we just discussed, 34 00:01:24,847 --> 00:01:27,460 it's also important to use whole disc encryption. 35 00:01:27,460 --> 00:01:30,072 This will help increase the security of your system. 36 00:01:30,072 --> 00:01:32,134 It's also important for you to realize that 37 00:01:32,134 --> 00:01:34,357 hard drives will eventually fail. 38 00:01:34,357 --> 00:01:36,339 But there are five things you can do to help 39 00:01:36,339 --> 00:01:39,283 postpone that failure and ease your recovery from it. 40 00:01:39,283 --> 00:01:41,701 First, you should remove any temporary files 41 00:01:41,701 --> 00:01:45,363 from your system by using a disc cleanup utility. 42 00:01:45,363 --> 00:01:48,690 Second, you should conduct periodic file system checks. 43 00:01:48,690 --> 00:01:50,484 If you're running Windows, you can do this by 44 00:01:50,484 --> 00:01:53,271 running Check Disc, and the System File Checker. 45 00:01:53,271 --> 00:01:55,865 If you're using Linux, you should do a file system check 46 00:01:55,865 --> 00:01:58,448 by typing fsck in the terminal. 47 00:01:59,369 --> 00:02:02,251 If you're using OS X, you can run first aid from 48 00:02:02,251 --> 00:02:04,621 within the disc utility application. 49 00:02:04,621 --> 00:02:06,203 The third thing you should do is perform a 50 00:02:06,203 --> 00:02:08,855 disc drive defragmentation periodically. 51 00:02:08,855 --> 00:02:11,928 On a Windows system, you can use the defrag command from the 52 00:02:11,928 --> 00:02:13,864 command line, or run the disc defragmenter 53 00:02:13,864 --> 00:02:16,602 from within the graphical user interface. 54 00:02:16,602 --> 00:02:18,185 The fourth thing you should do is ensure 55 00:02:18,185 --> 00:02:20,207 you have a good backup of your data. 56 00:02:20,207 --> 00:02:23,019 After all, every hard drive will fail one day, 57 00:02:23,019 --> 00:02:25,705 so it's important to have a good backup copy. 58 00:02:25,705 --> 00:02:28,224 This can be performed using different types of software or 59 00:02:28,224 --> 00:02:31,118 cloud solutions, depending on your business needs. 60 00:02:31,118 --> 00:02:33,587 The fifth and final thing you should do is ensure that you 61 00:02:33,587 --> 00:02:35,529 understand how to use different restoration 62 00:02:35,529 --> 00:02:38,067 techniques and actually practice them. 63 00:02:38,067 --> 00:02:40,358 This includes restoring from a system restore point 64 00:02:40,358 --> 00:02:43,113 within Windows, restoring a system from a tape backup, or 65 00:02:43,113 --> 00:02:45,175 backing up a hard drive, and even 66 00:02:45,175 --> 00:02:48,165 restoring an individual file from your backups. 67 00:02:48,165 --> 00:02:50,581 After all, the only way to truly verify that your 68 00:02:50,581 --> 00:02:54,177 backup copy is good, is to attempt a restore from it. 69 00:02:54,177 --> 00:02:56,516 In one organization I consulted with, 70 00:02:56,516 --> 00:02:58,521 they had years worth of backup tapes. 71 00:02:58,521 --> 00:03:00,456 They spent countless hours and a lot of 72 00:03:00,456 --> 00:03:02,587 money on this take back of system. 73 00:03:02,587 --> 00:03:04,981 But, when they actually need to restore from one of those 74 00:03:04,981 --> 00:03:07,279 tape back ups, they weren't able to do it, 75 00:03:07,279 --> 00:03:10,033 because the tape that they needed was corrupted. 76 00:03:10,033 --> 00:03:12,931 If they had practiced restoring that data to a test server, 77 00:03:12,931 --> 00:03:15,062 they would have known earlier that that data wasn't 78 00:03:15,062 --> 00:03:19,562 really there, and they didn't have a good backup copy.