File data stored towards the periphery of the disk is read and written nearly twice as fast as that near the centre. How to take advantage of this.
file system
Which is faster with a hard disk: using APFS or sticking with HFS+? Are there any differences in their performance on SSDs?
One likely cause of vanishing free space are large snapshots. So how can you tell why a snapshot is large, and how can you avoid it?
Which should you use, and what are their strengths and drawbacks? Symbolic links, hard links, aliases and bookmarks explained – oh, and a mention of firmlinks too.
Tired of HFS+? Disenchanted by APFS? Why not copy or back up to a different file system? Here are crocodiles waiting to bite you.
Turning the data blocks into files and directories, these have common functions and additional features which can give rise to tricky problems.
APFS is almost 4 years old, and set out to solve the problem of accumulation of minor errors which has plagued HFS+. Has it?
Detailed account of disk, volume and folder layouts on Big Sur’s boot disks, complete with roadmaps which are downloadable as PDFs.
Diagrams of the layout of volumes on boot disks for macOS 10.13 to 11, covering both Intel and M1 models.
Volume layouts are fairly straightforward until you have two or more bootable systems with Volume Groups. Details and advice for those with macOS 10.15 or 11.
The Eclectic Light Company 