File Allocation

Question 1

What is a filing system?

Answer 1

It is like an index in the back of a book that tells the OS exactly where to find the file on the drive

Question 2

How does an OS mark its files for the filing system?

Answer 2

If marks files so you know where they start and end, and where exactly they are stored or located

Question 3

What is Binary?

Answer 3

a two digit counting system 0’s and 1’s, used by computers and networks

Question 4

What is a “Bit”?

Answer 4

one binary digit, a 0 or a 1

Question 5

What is a “Byte”?

Answer 5

a grouping of 8 bits

Question 6

How many Bytes is 1 kilobyte?

Answer 6

1,000 Bits

Question 7

How many Bytes is 1 Megabyte?

Answer 7

1,000,000 Bits

Question 8

How many Bytes is 1Gigabyte?

Answer 8

1 Billion Bits

Question 9

How many Bytes is 1 Terabyte?

Answer 9

1 Trillion Bits

Question 10

What is Physical vs. Logical?

Answer 10

Physical is what you the user can see, Logical is what the Computer/Network can see

Question 11

What are Sectors and Clusters?

Answer 11

Units of Storage, Indexing

Question 12

What is a Sector?

Answer 12

512 Bytes, a Physical Representation on the drive, Physical divisions

Question 13

What is a Cluster?

Answer 13

A Logical Concept done by the OS, clusters are decided by the OS, reducing the number of entries in our file index.

Standard is usually 8 Sectors per Cluster, or 4,096 Bytes

Question 14

What are the 2 cardinal rules for Clusters?

Answer 14

1) All Clusters have to be the same size

2) They cannot be shared

Question 15

What is File Fragmentation?

Answer 15

A File is fragmented when its clusters are not in consecutive order

Question 16

**What does it mean to “Delete” a file?

Answer 16

You are telling the filing system that the spot the deleted file is in is now available, you just erase the entry in the index and wait for it to be overwritten by a new file that is stored in its place

Question 17

**What is Slack Space?

Answer 17

the space between the end of the file and the end of the cluster

Question 18

**When is data permanently gone?

Answer 18

When it is overwritten

Question 19

Why choose larger clusters? Why not choose larger Clusters?

Answer 19

Advantages:

1) less chance for fragmentation
2) Speed

Disadvantages

1) less space on your HD for other files
2) a lot more slack space