Unix filesystem
In Unix and operating systems inspired by it, the file system is considered a central component of the operating system. It was also one of the first parts of the system to be designed and implemented by Ken Thompson in the first experimental version of Unix, dated 1969.
Like in other operating systems, the filesystem provides information storage and retrieval, as well as interprocess communication, in the sense that the many small programs that traditionally comprise a Unix system can store information in files so that other programs can read these, although pipes complemented it in this role starting with the Third Edition. Additionally, the filesystem provides access to other resources through so-called device files that are entry points to terminals, printers, and mice.
The rest of this article uses "Unix" as a generic name to refer to both the original Unix operating system as well as its many workalikes.
Principles
The filesystem appears as a single rooted tree of directories. Instead of addressing separate volumes such as disk partitions, removable media, and network shares as separate trees (as done in MS-DOS and Windows: each "drive" has a drive letter that denotes the root of its file system tree), such volumes can be "mounted" on a directory, causing the volume's file system tree to appear as that directory in the larger tree. The root of the entire tree is denoted /.
Unix File System
The Unix file system (UFS; also called the Berkeley Fast File System, the BSD Fast File System or FFS) is a file system used by many Unix and Unix-like operating systems. It is a distant descendant of the original filesystem used by Version 7 Unix.
Design
A UFS volume is composed of the following parts:
- A backup copy of the superblock
- A cylinder group header, with statistics, free lists, etc., about this cylinder group, similar to those in the superblock
- A number of inodes, each containing file attributes
- A number of data blocks
File system
In computing, a file system (or filesystem) is used to control how data is stored and retrieved. Without a file system, information placed in a storage area would be one large body of data with no way to tell where one piece of information stops and the next begins. By separating the data into individual pieces, and giving each piece a name, the information is easily separated and identified. Taking its name from the way paper-based information systems are named, each group of data is called a "file". The structure and logic rules used to manage the groups of information and their names is called a "file system".
There are many different kinds of file systems. Each one has different structure and logic, properties of speed, flexibility, security, size and more. Some file systems have been designed to be used for specific applications. For example, the ISO 9660 file system is designed specifically for optical discs.
File systems can be used on many different kinds of storage devices. Each storage device uses a different kind of media. The most common storage device in use today is a hard drive whose media is a disc that has been coated with a magnetic film. The film has ones and zeros 'written' on it sending electrical pulses to a magnetic "read-write" head. Other media that are used are magnetic tape, optical disc, and flash memory. In some cases, such as with tmpfs, the computer's main memory (RAM) is used to create a temporary file system for short-term use.
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