文件分配表（File allocation table）.docVIP

文件分配表（File allocation table） FAT is the file addressing format for DOS and windows9X systems, located after DBR. In explaining the concept of the file allocation table, we need to talk about the concept of Cluster. The file occupies disk space, the basic unit is not the byte, but the cluster. Generally, the floppy disk is 1 sectors per cluster, and the number of sectors per cluster of hard disk is related to the total capacity of the hard disk. It may be 4, 8, 16, 32, 64...... The data in the same file is not always stored in a contiguous area of the disk, but is often divided into segments that are stored as a chain. This type of storage is called a chained storage of files. Since the hard disk holds the connection information between the segments and segments (i.e. FAT), the operating system always finds the location of each segment accurately and reads it correctly when reading the file. In order to implement file chain storage, the hard disk must accurately record which clusters have been occupied by the file, and must also specify the cluster number of the next cluster for each succeeding cluster. For the last cluster of a file, it is necessary to designate the cluster. These are saved by the FAT table. There are many table items in the table, each record the information of a cluster. Because of the importance of FAT for file management, for security reasons, FAT has a backup, that is, building the same FAT behind the original FAT. All items are marked as unused at the beginning of the formation of FAT, but if the disk has local damage, so the formatter will detect the damage in the corresponding cluster, bid items are bad clusters, after the document they no longer use the cluster. The total number of clusters and the number of FAT on the hard disk, the number of bytes occupied by each item must be compatible with the total number of clusters, because of the need to store the cluster number. There are many formats for FAT, the most common are FAT16 and FAT32.