File System: File System Is A Hierarchical Structure of Files. File Systems Enable Easy Access To
File System: File System Is A Hierarchical Structure of Files. File Systems Enable Easy Access To
Apart from the files and directories, the file system also includes a number
of other related records, which are collectively called the metadata. For example,
metadata in a UNIX environment consists of the superblock, the inodes, and the
list of data blocks free and in use. The metadata of a file system has to be consistent
in order for the file system to be considered healthy. A superblock contains
important information about the file system, such as the file system type, creation
and modification dates, size and layout, the count of available resources
(such as number of free blocks, inodes, etc.), and a flag indicating the mount
status of the file system. An inode is associated with every file and directory
and contains information about file length, ownership, access privileges, time
of last access/modification, number of links, and the addresses for finding the
location on the physical disk where the actual data is stored.