File systemA file system is a method of organizing and retrieving files in the system from a storage medium such as a hard drive. It consists of files which are separated into groups called directories. These directories can contain files or additional directories.

The architecture of the File System:

It has three layers of architecture.

Application Programming Interface (API) helps in interacting the logical file system with the user application directly.

The second optional layer called virtual file system will help in implementing the file system.

The third layer called as physical file system helps in performing physical operations on the storage device where the files are get stored.

The Aspects of File System:

Some of the aspects of a file system are Filenames, Directories, Metadata and so on.

Filename – It is used to find the exact location of a file.

Directories – It is also called as folders which can group a set of files.

Metadata – It is indexing data about files to access more efficiently.

Types of File System:

Some of the types of file system are listed below

Disk File System:

It is a file system designed for storing files in a data storage disk called disk drive which can be directly or indirectly connected to a computer. Example: NTFS, UDF, FAT.

Database File System: 

The files are identified by their characteristics like file type, topic, similar metadata which can be used instead of hierarchically structured management. Example: Gnome VFS, BFS, WinFS.

Tape File System:

The file data will be like self-describing.

Network File System:

It acts as a client for a remote file access protocol. Example: NFS, AFS, SMB protocols.

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