Introducing the filesystem essentials

A filesystem is a component of an operating system that controls how files are stored and retrieved. The filesystem typically provides a naming and organization scheme to enable the easy identification of a file. We can think of a file as a logical group of data stored as a single unit. A filesystem provides the ability to manage an extremely large number of files of a wide range of sizes, from very small to extremely large.

There are many different kinds of filesystems. Some are specific to a given operating system while others offer a standard interface and appear identical across multiple operating systems. Nonetheless, the underlying mechanisms of a filesystem are meant to guarantee various degrees of speed, flexibility, security, size, and reliable storage.

The filesystem is meant to shield both the operating system and programs that run on it from the underlying physical details of the associated storage medium. There is a...