File System

Syllabus Detail

  •  Role of file system. Features; space management, filenames, directories. 12 ATAR

 

 

Background

  • A file system is a core component of a computer system
  • The file system is used to control how data is stored and accessed
  • Without a file system, information would be stored in one large chunk 
  • The data is grouped in order to make it easy to identify where one piece of information begins and ends
  • This grouped data is what we call a file
  • Each file system, see image bottom of page has its own method of organising data

 

Space Management

  • Space management refers to how we use and manage space on our storage devices
  • Often, storage devices such as hard disks (HDDs) and solid-state drives (SSDs) are partitioned
  • Partitioning is the action of breaking up a storage device in to many usable chunks
  • This has many benefits, including:
    • The option to run multiple Operating Systems (wherein each OS is installed on a different partition)
    • Partitions can be used for storage space outside of an OS, meaning even if the OS corrupts, the data on the created storage partition will remain
    • Partitioning eliminates the need for multiple physical storage devices as we can divide one storage device in to many virtual storage devices
  • Operating Systems will often create multiple partitions when installing, however we don't generally see these partitions on common Operating Systems such as Mac OS X and Microsoft Windows
    • These system-created partitions are generally for use as reserved sections that allow for important data
    • This generally includes a boot manager and necessary configuration files for booting in to the OS
  • Operating Systems contain disk utility applications that allow for creating, deleting and modifying partitions

 

File Names

  • File names are used to identify where a specific set of information is stored on a file system
  • A file name is essentially an identifying name given to a computer file
  • Some systems are case sensitive, meaning a file named "MyFile" and "myfile" point to different files
  • Generally systems are case insensitive, meaning "MyFile" and "myfile" will point to the same file
  • Special characters such as ':' aren't generally allowed in file names

 

Directories

  • File systems contain directories, or more commonly referred to as folders
  • These directories are capable of grouping specific files in to a centralized place
  • Directories work off a hierarchy basis, meaning each folder can contain multiple sub-folders, each containing their own files

 

Further Research

 

 Worksheet and Practice (yet to be added)

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