Page 148 - DCAP403_Operating System

Unit 8: File Management

Log-structured file systems have all the desirable properties for a fl ash file system. Such fi le Notes
systems include JFFS2 and YAFFS.
3. Database fi le systems: A new concept for file management is the concept of a database-

based file system. Instead of, or in addition to, hierarchical structured management, fi les

are identified by their characteristics, like type of file, topic, author, or similar metadata.
Example: dbfs.
4. Transactional fi le systems: Each disk operation may involve changes to a number of
different files and disk structures. In many cases, these changes are related, meaning that

it is important that they all be executed at the same time. Take for example a bank sending
another bank some money electronically. The bank’s computer will “send” the transfer
instruction to the other bank and also update its own records to indicate the transfer has
occurred. If for some reason the computer crashes before it has had a chance to update
its own records, then on reset, there will be no record of the transfer but the bank will be
missing some money.
Transaction processing introduces the guarantee that at any point while it is running, a
transaction can either be finished completely or reverted completely (though not necessarily

both at any given point). This means that if there is a crash or power failure, after recovery,
the stored state will be consistent. (Either the money will be transferred or it will not be
transferred, but it won’t ever go missing “in transit”.)
This type of file system is designed to be fault tolerant, but may incur additional overhead

to do so.
Journaling file systems are one technique used to introduce transaction-level consistency to

file system structures.

5. Network fi le systems: A network file system is a file system that acts as a client for a remote

file access protocol, providing access to files on a server.

Example: Network file systems include clients for the NFS, SMB protocols, and

file-system-like clients for FTP and WebDAV.

6. Special purpose fi le systems: A special purpose file system is basically any file system that

is not a disk fi le system or network fi le system. This includes systems where the fi les are
arranged dynamically by software, intended for such purposes as communication between
computer processes or temporary fi le space.

Special purpose file systems are most commonly used by file-centric operating systems
such as Unix. Examples include the procfs (/proc) file system used by some Unix variants,

which grants access to information about processes and other operating system features.
Deep space science exploration craft, like Voyager I & II used digital tape based special
file systems. Most modern space exploration craft like Cassini-Huygens used Real-time

operating system file systems or RTOS infl uenced file systems. The Mars Rovers are one
such example of an RTOS file system, important in this case because they are implemented

in fl ash memory.

Task Discuss NTFS type of file system. Also explain the various benefits of NTFS fi le
system over FAT fi le.

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