Operating systemsLesson 1 of 4 in the course File systems and I/O

File-System Architecture, Organization, Reliability, and Deployment

5 flashcards · 5 quiz questions · 5 match pairs · 4 fill-in sentences · English

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Summary

A file system organizes stored information and provides a consistent way for applications to access it. This lesson introduces the role of file systems and the layers that can connect applications to storage.

A file system is the set of structures and services that governs how files are organized, stored, named, and accessed. It lets multiple applications share storage through consistent operations such as opening, reading, writing, and closing files.

All flashcards

What is a file system?
A system of structures and services that organizes files and manages how applications store and access them.
What is a local file system?
A file-system capability of an operating system that serves applications running on the same computer.
What is a distributed file system?
A system that provides access to files across networked computers, typically through a protocol.
What does the logical file system layer manage?
High-level file operations, open-file records, file descriptors, directory operations, security, and protection.
What does the physical file system layer do?
It reads and writes storage blocks, manages buffering and block placement, and connects to devices through drivers or I/O mechanisms.

Quiz questions

  1. What is the primary role of a file-system journal after a failure?Answer: To record structural changes that can help restore file-system consistency.
  2. Why can repeated directory updates be slow on some tape file systems?Answer: The drive may need to wind along the medium to reach the directory information.
  3. What is a disk image that contains a file system?Answer: A file stored in a host file system that contains another file system.
  4. What must a shared-disk file system do when multiple machines use the same storage?Answer: Coordinate access so that concurrent writes do not conflict.
  5. What is a risk of losing the encryption key used for stored files?Answer: The encrypted data may become inaccessible.

Based on the Wikipedia article File system, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Adapted into a summary, flashcards and quizzes.

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