What does the NTFS do?
If you work with a Windows operating system, you may have already come across the term NTFS. The abbreviation stands for a system that structures data and enables you to find it quickly.
But what exactly is an NTFS? And what should you consider for authorization management in your company?
What is an NTFS?
The New Technology File System, NTFS for short, is a proprietary file system from Microsoft. It organizes data on the drive, hard drives or other data carriers and offers around two terabytes of storage capacity for a partition.
NTFS in its current form – and as a Microsoft (further) development – is primarily used in Windows operating systems. Information on stored files, such as their attributes (metadata), is stored in a Master File Table (MFT) under NTFS.
Authorization assignment in NTFS
Which users have access to certain files? Using an access control list (ACL), administrators can assign permissions in NTFS and get an overview of the permissions situation.
Historically grown authorization structures make it difficult to analyze access rights. It is not always clear who has received authorizations, when and from whom.
Deleted accounts, nested Active Directory groups all make it difficult to clearly identify current authorizations.
Our solutions for you
The free NTFS Permission Analyzer supports you with this challenge. Are you planning an analysis of authorization structures, a file server migration or a restructuring of the file server? The tool makes it easier for you to get an initial overview of NTFS.
And this is how it works:
Select any sub-area of your file servers for a scan.
Start the process with the NTFS Permission Analyzer.
Export the result to an Excel format (contains, among other things, all NTFS permissions per folder and user).
Evaluate the analysis and finally gain transparency about your authorization situation.
Good to know
The scan and analysis of the permission structure include permissions that are nested to any depth, as well as users authorized directly in NTFS and permissions that have been assigned via nested AD groups. The NTFS Permission Analyzer also detects possible circular relationships in AD groups during the scan and can automatically clean up orphaned SIDs (zombie users).
