Chapter 5 - File Systems

Abstract

This chapter defines what a file system is and what it manages when utilized as middleware. It introduces fundamental file system concepts and terminology and identifies the major elements of most file system designs. File system software provides a scheme to manage data on an embedded computer system. A file system can be accessible and directly utilized by the embedded system's user, as middleware software used by other middleware, as middleware software used by applications in the system to manage data for the application, or some combination of the above. There are different file system design schemes that can be implemented in a particular file system. In order to understand a file system design, determine which file system design is the right choice for an embedded device, as well as understand the impact of a file system on a particular device, it is important to first understand the fundamentals of a file system. These fundamentals include what the purpose of a file system is, elements that commonly make up a file system, and real-world examples of some of the schemes implementing these elements.