Various optimizations and tweaks to the implementation of FAT file system drivers, block device drivers and disk tools have been devised to overcome most of the performance bottlenecks in the file system's inherent design without having to change the layout of the on-disk structures. They can be divided into on-line and off-line methods and work by trying to avoid fragmentation in the file system in the first place, deploying methods to better cope with existing fragmentation, and by reordering and optimizing the on-disk structures. With optimizations in place, the performance on FAT volumes can often reach that of more sophisticated file systems in practical scenarios, while at the same time retaining the advantage of being accessible even on very small or old systems.
