What criteria should be used in deciding which file allocation method is best utilized for a particular file?

What criteria should be used in deciding which strategy is best utilized for a particular file? Contiguous allocation is best for files that are small and accessed sequentially. Linked allocation is best for large files accessed sequentially. Indexed allocation is best for large, randomly accessed files.

What is the biggest disadvantage of keeping the disk allocation table in the main memory?

Only little main memory space will be left available for a user’s processes. b. Whenever the File Allocation Table gets updated on the disk, the Disk Allocation Table in the main memory must get updated, too, which is a time-costly operation.

Which technique is most useful if we want to allocate more contiguous disk space to a file?

Contiguous Allocation: – Contiguous allocation is one of the most used methods for allocation. Contiguous allocation means we allocate the block in such a manner, so that in the hard disk, all the blocks get the contiguous physical block. We can see in the below figure that in the directory, we have three files.

Why must the bit map for file allocation?

12.3 Why must the bit map for file allocation be kept on mass storage, rather than in main memory? Answer: In case of system crash (memory failure) the free-space list would not be lost as it would be if the bit map had been stored in main memory.

What is file allocation method?

The allocation method defines how the files are stored in the disk blocks. The direct access nature of the disks gives us the flexibility to implement the files. In many cases, different files or many files are stored on the same disk.

What is spooling and its advantages?

Spooling is useful because devices access data at different rates. The spool buffer provides a waiting station where data can rest while a slower device, such as a printer, catches up. When the slower device is ready to handle a new job, it can read another batch of information from the spool buffer.

What is the purpose of file allocation strategy?

What is the purpose of file allocation strategies?

The allocation methods define how the files are stored in the disk blocks.

How does the use of bit maps becomes space efficient?

When the block is free its bit is set to 1 and when the block is allocated the bit is set to 0. The main advantage of the bitmap is it is relatively simple and efficient in finding the first free block and also the consecutive free block in the disk.