GPT is an abbreviation standing for GUID Partition Table. The more established MBR partitioning scheme failed to support new hardware that was being developed. This prompted Intel to develop a new partition which became UEFI where GPT is a subset. Compared with MBR, GPT is able to support volumes of larger than 2 TB which MBR cannot. GPT also replaces the bulky old MBR partitioning system with a more modern one. Every partition in the GUID Partition Table has a globally unique identifier which is an unsystematic string that is so long in such a way that every GPT Partition in this world has its own specific identifier unlike MBR.
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GPT drives have a much larger and size limits which depend mainly on operating systems and its files systems therefore GPT allows an unlimited amount of partitions. GPT drive can support 128 partitions on Windows OS or Mac OS X while MBR only supports four primary partitions.
Unlimited Amount of Partitions
GPT data is protected by MBR to prevent it from being overwritten while MBR protects its own data. GPT drives include a protective MBR which indicate presence of a single partition which extends throughout the drive. Therefore when managing old tools, MBR makes sure that the data is not overwritten.
GPT stores partitioning and boot data in multiple copies across the disk which makes it easier to recover data in case it is overwritten or corrupted. MBR on the other hand, stores this data in one place which makes it impossible to retrieve data once it is corrupted. GPT also has the ability to store cyclical redundancy values which check whether data is intact, in case data is corrupted, GPT identifies the problem and makes attempts to recover data from the disk’s other locations. MBR does not have that capability of knowing whether data has been corrupted, the only indication is when booting process fails or when drives partitions disappear.
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