SOLVED: Everything You Need To Know About a Windows Dev Drives

One of our clients recently noticed a setting in Windows Defender > Virus & Threat Protection > Dev Drive Protection and asked us what the heck that is. This is what we told them:

What Is a Dev Drive?

Microsoft introduced Dev Drives at the Microsoft Build conference in May 2023. These drives are designed to enhance performance for development tasks by using the Resilient File System (ReFS) and optimizing settings specifically for developer workloads.

Dev Drives can even host file shares so those in collaborative environments can create one high performance place for shared code.

Why are Dev Drives Faster Than Regular Volumes?

Dev Drives are operate about 25% faster than regular volume partitions and this confuses some.

Even if both volumes use the Resilient File System (ReFS), a Dev Drive will likely be faster than a regular drive volume because:

1. Optimized Settings: Dev Drives are configured with settings specifically tuned for development workloads, such as compiling code and handling large numbers of small files. These settings can reduce overhead and improve performance.
2. Security Bypass: Dev Drives are automatically trusted by Windows Security, which means they bypass certain security checks that can slow down file operations. This trust reduces the performance impact of real-time security scanning.
3. Performance Features: ReFS on Dev Drives can leverage features like block cloning and sparse file support more effectively, which are beneficial for development tasks that involve frequent file changes and large datasets.
4. Resource Allocation: Dev Drives might be allocated more system resources or prioritized differently by the operating system, ensuring that development tasks get the necessary performance boost.

What Are The Requirements For a Dev Drive?

To create a Dev Drive:

1. your computer must be Windows 11 24H2 or Server 2022 (or newer)
2. with at least 8 GB of RAM free
3. 50 GB of free disk space

Also you cannot:

1. make a removable drive (i.e. USB stick or USB drive) a Dev Drive, or
2. convert an existing volume into a Dev Drive

What Should Not Be Stored On a Dev Drive?

Microsoft says you should not install programs or store data on a Dev Drive because of how a Dev Drive skips some security scans. Storing data and programs is not forbidden but is “best practice”.

How To Setup a Dev Drive?

As you can see in the screenshot Dev Drives can be created through the Windows Settings under System > Storage > Advanced Storage Settings > Disks & Volumes.