Anatomy of the Linux file system

Anatomy of the Linux file system: "What is a file system?

I'll start with an answer to the most basic question, the definition of a file system. A file system is an organization of data and metadata on a storage device. With a vague definition like that, you know that the code required to support this will be interesting. As I mentioned, there are many types of file systems and media. With all of this variation, you can expect that the Linux file system interface is implemented as a layered architecture, separating the user interface layer from the file system implementation from the drivers that manipulate the storage devices.

File systems as protocols
Another way to think about a file system is as a protocol. Just as network protocols (such as IP) give meaning to the streams of data traversing the Internet, file systems give meaning to the data on a particular storage medium.

Mounting

Associating a file system to a storage device in Linux is a process called mounting. The mount command is used to attach a file system to the current file system hierarchy (root). During a mount, you provide a file system type, a file system, and a mount point.

To illustrate the capabilities of the Linux file system layer (and the use of mount), create a file system in a file within the current file system. This is accomplished first by creating a file of a given size u"