## GPT versus MBR

GUID Partition Table (GPT) is the next generation of a hard disk partitioning scheme developed to lift restrictions of the old MBR. Being a part of the Extensible Firmware Interface (EFI) standard proposed by Intel to replace the outdated PC BIOS, it offers a number of crucial benefits:

· Up to 128 primary partitions for the Windows implementation (only 4 in MBR);

· The maximum allowed partition size is 18 exabytes (only 2 terabytes in MBR);

· More reliable thanks to replication and cyclic redundancy check (CRC) protection of the partition table;

· A well defined and fully self-identifying partition format (data critical to the platform operation is located in partitions, but not in un-partitioned or hidden sectors as this is the case with MBR)