THE DESIGN OF THE UNIX OPERATING SYSTEM Maurice J.

bach Prentice Hall

Internal representation of files

Table of Contents

Introduction Inodes Structure of a Regular File Directories Conversion of a Path Name to an Inode Super Block Inode Assignment to a New File Allocation of Disk Blocks Other File Types Summary

Internal representation of files

Introduction (1)
process to access a file.
File ownership Access rights File size Location of file data

The inode contains information necessary for a

Process access a file by a well defined set of system

calls by specifying the path name Kernel converts the path name to the files inode.

Internal representation of files

Introduction (2)
Gives insight into
How the kernel manipulates the inode The internal structure of regular files and how the

kernel reads and writes their data Structure of the directory Structure of the superblock Assignment of disk inodes and disk block to file file types : pipes and device file

Internal representation of files

File System Algorithms

Lower Level File system Algorithms
namei alloc free iget iput bmap Buffer allocation algorithms getblk brelse bread breada bwrite ialloc ifree

Internal representation of files

Table of Contents

Introduction Inodes Structure of a Regular File Directories Conversion of a Path Name to an Inode Super Block Inode Assignment to a New File Allocation of Disk Blocks Other File Types Summary

Internal representation of files

Definition of Inodes
Every file has a unique inode
Contain the information necessary for a

process to access a file Exist in a static form on disk Kernel reads them into an in-core inode to manipulate them.

Internal representation of files

Contents of Disk Inodes File owner identifier (individual/group owner)

File type (regular, directory,..) File access permission (owner,group,other) File access time Number of links to the file Table of contents for the disk address of data in a file
Kernel saves the data in discontiguous disk blocks The Inodes identifies the disk blocks

File size
1 greater than the highest byte offset of data Byte offset 1000 -> the size of the file : 1001 byte

Internal representation of files

Sample Disk Inode

File owner identifier File type File access permission File access time Number of links to the file Table of contents for the disk address of data in a file File size

Owner mjb Group os Type regular file Perms rwxr-xr-x Accessed Oct 23 1984 1:45 P.M Modified Oct 22 1984 10:3 A.M Inode Oct 23 1984 1:30 P.M Size 6030 bytes Disk addresses

Internal representation of files

Distinction Between Writing Inode and File

File change only when writing it.
Inode change when changing the file, or when changing its owner, permisson,or link settings.

Changing a file implies a change to the inode,

But, changing the inode does not imply that the file change.

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Contents of The In-core copy of The Inode(1)

Fields of the disk inode Status of the in-core inode, indicating whether
Inode is locked Process is waiting for the inode to become unlocked Differ from the disk copy as a result of a change to

the data in the inode Differ from the disk copy as a result of a change to the file data File is a mount point

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Contents of The In-core copy of The Inode (2)

Logical device number of the file system
Inode number (linear array on disk, disk inode not

need this field)

Pointers to other in-core inodes
Reference count

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In-core Inode Vs Buffer Header

In-core Inode An inode is on the free list only if its reference count is 0 Kernel can reallocate the in-core inode to another disk inode Buffer header No reference count It is on the free list if and only if it is unlocked

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Algorithm for Allocation of In-Core Inodes (1)

algorithm iget input: file system inode number output: locked inode { while(not done){ if (inode in inode cache){ if (inode locked){ sleep(event inode becomes unlocked); continue; } if (inode on inode free list) remove from free list; increment inode reference count; return (inode); }

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Algorithm for Allocation of In-Core Inodes (2)

/*inode not in inode cache*/
if(no inodes on free list) return(error); remove new inode from free list; reset inode number and file system; remove inode from old hash queue,place on new one; read inode from disk(algorithm bread); initialize inode (e.g. reference count to 1); return (inode);

} }

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Accessing Inodes
Kernel identifies inodes by their file system and

inode number Allocate in-core inodes at the request of higherlevel algorithms (in-core inode, by iget algorithm) Kernel maps the device number & inode number into a hash queue Search the queue for the inode

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Block Number
Computing logical disk block number
Block number

= ((inode number 1) / number of inodes per block) + start block inode list Example 1

Block 2 : beginning of the inode list 8 inodes per block Inode number 8 is in disk block ? Inode number 9 is ?

Example 2 Block 2 : beginning of the inode list 16 inodes per block Inode number 8 is in disk block ? Inode number 9 is ? Inode number 17 is ?
Internal representation of files 17

Byte Offset
Read the block using bread

Computing byte offset of the inode in the block ((inode number 1) mod (number of inodes per block))* size of disk inode Example

Each disk inode 64 bytes 1 block : 8 inodes Inode 8 starts at byte offset 448 in the disk block

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Inode Lock and Reference Count

Kernel manipulates them independently Inode lock
Set during execution of a system call to prevent other processes

from accessing the inode while it is in use. Kernel releases the lock at the conclusion of the system call Inode is never locked across system calls.

Reference count
Kernel increase/decrease when reference is active/inactive Prevent the kernel from reallocating an active in-core inode

Thus kernel can lock and unlock an allocated inode independent of the value of the reference count.

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Releasing an Inodes(1)
Using algorithm iput
decrements in-core reference count Write the inode to disk Reference count is 0 The in-core copy differs from the disk copy Add the inode on the free list of inodes For caching

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Releasing an Inode (2)

algorithm iput /* release (put) access to in-core inode */ input: pointer to in-core inode output: none { lock inode if not already locked; decrement inode reference count; if(reference count ==0){ if(inode link count ==0){ free disk blocks for file (algorithm free, section 4.7); set file type to 0; free inode (algorithm ifree, section 4.6); } if(file accessed or inode changed or file changed) update disk inode; put inode on free list; } release inode lock; }
Internal representation of files 21

Table of Contents

Introduction Inodes Structure of a Regular File Directories Conversion of a Path Name to an Inode Super Block Inode Assignment to a New File Allocation of Disk Blocks Other File Types Summary

Internal representation of files

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Structure of a Regular File

Table of contents in an inode Location of a files data on disk A set of disk block #

Each block on a disk is addressable by number

Not contiguous file allocation strategy Why ? When a file expand or contract Fragmentations occur

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Sample - Fragmentation
. 40 File A 50 File B 60 File C 70 .

. 40

File A 50

Free 60

File C 70

File B 85

File B was expanded Garbage collection too high cost

Internal representation of files 24

Structure of a Regular File UNIX System V

13 entries in the inode table of contents
10 direct, 1 indirect, 1 double indirect, 1 triple indirect block

Assume
a logical block = 1K bytes a block number is addressable by a 32 bit (4 bytes) integer a block can hold up to 256 block numbers

Byte Capacity of a File

10 direct blocks with 1K bytes each= 10K bytes 1 indirect block with 256 direct blocks= 1K*256 = 256K bytes 1 double indirect block with 256 indirect blocks = 256K*256= 64M bytes 1 triple indirect block with 256 double indirect blocks=64M*256=16G bytes

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Direct and Indirect Blocks in Inode

Inode Data Blocks
direct0

direct1
direct2 direct3 direct4

direct5
direct6 direct7 direct8 direct9 single indirect double indirect triple indirect
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Byte Offset and Block Number

Process access data in a file by byte offset.
The file starts at logical block 0 and continues to a logical block number corresponding to the file size

Kernel accesses the inode and converts the logical file block into the appropriate disk block (bmap algorithm)

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Conversion of Byte Offset to Block Number

Algorithm bmap /* block map of logical file byte offset to file system block */ Input : inode, byte offset Output: (1) block number in file system, (2) byte offset into block, (3) bytes of I/O in block, (4) read ahead block number calculate logical block number in file from byte offset; calculate start byte in block for I/O; /* output 2 */ calculate number of bytes to copy to user; /* output 3 */ check if read-ahead applicable, mark inode; /* output 4*/ determine level of indirection; while(not at necessary level of indirection) calculate index into inode or indirect block from logical block number in file; get disk block number from inode or indirect block; release buffer from previous disk read, if any (algorithm brelse); if(no more levels of indirection) return (block number); read indirect disk block (algorithm bread); adjust logical block number in file according to level of indirection;
Internal representation of files 28

Block Layout of a Sample File and Its inode

0

4096

228
45423 0 0 11111 0 101
8 367 Data block Byte 9000 in a file -> 8block 808th byte

367 0 428 (10K+256K) 9156 824

Internal representation of files 0 331

75 3333

816th byte 3333 Data block Byte 350,000 in a file

11

9156 Double indirect

331 Single indirect

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Unix i-nodes - Example

Byte number 9200 is in direct block 8

228 4542 3 0 0 1111 0 101 367 0 428 9156 824

9156
30

#1008th byte in block 367 Byte number 355,000 is calculated as follows: a. 1st byte of the double indirect block is 256k+10k = 272,384 b. byte number 355,000 is number 82,616 in the double indirect block c. every single indirect block has 256k bytes --> byte 355,000 is in the 0th single indirect block - 231 d. Every entry is 1k, so byte 82,616 is in the 80th block - 123 e. within block 123 it is byte #696

367 data block

231

80

123 231

123

Internal representation of files

Block Entry in the Inode is 0

Logical block entry contain no data.
Process never wrote data into the file at that byte offset

No disk space is wasted

Cause by using the lseek and write system call

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Two Extensions to the inode Structure

4.2 BSD file system
The more data the kernel can access on the disk in a

single operation, the faster file access becomes But it increase block fragmentation Solution : One disk block can contain fragments belonging to several files

To store file data in the inode

By expanding the inode to occupy an entire disk block The remainder can store the entire file

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Table of Contents

Introduction Inodes Structure of a Regular File Directories Conversion of a Path Name to an Inode Super Block Inode Assignment to a New File Allocation of Disk Blocks Other File Types Summary

Internal representation of files

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Directories
A directory is a file

Its data is a sequence of entries, each consisting

of an inode number and the name of a file contained in the directory Path name is a null terminated character string divided by / Each component except the last must be the name of a directory, last component may be a non-directory file

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Directory Layout for /etc

Byte Offset in Directory
0 16 32 48 ... 224 240 256

Inode Number (2 bytes)

83 2 1798 1276 ... 0 95 188

File Names
. .. init fsck crash mkfs inittab
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Internal representation of files

Table of Contents
Introduction Inodes Structure of a Regular File Directories Conversion of a Path Name to an Inode Super Block Inode Assignment to a New File Allocation of Disk Blocks Other File Types Summary
Internal representation of files 36

conversion of path name to an inode

if (path name starts with root)
working inode= root inode

else
working inode= current directory inode

while (there is more path name)

read next component from input read directory content if (component matches an entry in directory) get inode number for matched component release working inode working inode=inode of matched component else return no inode

return (working inode)

Internal representation of files 37

Table of Contents
Introduction Inodes Structure of a Regular File Directories Conversion of a Path Name to an Inode Super Block Inode Assignment to a New File Allocation of Disk Blocks Other File Types Summary

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Super block
File System
boot block super block inode list data blocks

Consists of

the size of the file system the number of free blocks in the file system a list of free blocks available on the file system the index of the next free block in the free block list the size of the inode list the number of free inodes in the file system a list of free inodes in the file system the index of the next free inode in the free inode list lock fields for the free block and free inode lists a flag indicating that the super block has been modified

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Table of Contents
Introduction Inodes Structure of a Regular File Directories Conversion of a Path Name to an Inode Super Block Inode Assignment to a New File Allocation of Disk Blocks Other File Types Summary

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Inode Assignment to a New File

File system contains a linear list of inodes
Inode is free : its type field is zero (0) Super block contains an array to cache the

numbers of free inodes in the file system (to improve performance)

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Algorithm for Assigning New Inodes(1)

Algorithm ialloc /* allocate inode */ Input : file system Output : locked inode { while(not done){ if(super block locked) { sleep(event super block becomes free); continue; } if(inode list in super block is empty){ lock super block; get remembered inode for free inode search; search disk for free inodes until super block full, or no more free inodes (bread and brelese); unlock super block; wake up (event super block becomes free); if(no free inodes found on disk) return (no inode); set remembered inode for next free inode search; }

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Algorithm for Assigning New Inodes(2)

/* there are inodes in super block inode list */ get inode number from super block inode list; get inode (algorithm iget); if(inode not free after all) { write inode to disk; release inode (algorithm iput); continue; /* while loop */ } /* inode is free */ initialize inode; write inode to disk; decrement file system free inode count; return (inode); } // end of while }

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Assigning Free Inode from Middle of List

Super Block Free Inode List free inodes 83
18 19 48 20 empty array

index
Super Block Free Inode List free inodes 83 18 19 20 index

empty array

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Assigning Free Inode Super Block List Empty

Super Block Free Inode List 470 empty
0 array1

index

remembered inode array2 476 475 471

Super Block Free Inode List 535 free inodes

48

49

50

index

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Algorithm for Freeing Inode

Algorithm ifree /* inode free */ Input : file system inode number Output : none { increment file system free inode count; if(super block locked) return; if(inode list full){ if(inode number less than remembered inode for search) set remembered inode for search = input inode number; } else store inode number in inode list; return; }
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Placing Free Inode Numbers Into the Super Block

535 471 476 475 remembered inode

free inodes
index

Original Super Block List of Free Inodes 499 471 remembered inode Free Inode 499 499 471 remembered inode Free Inode 601 476 475 free inodes index 476 475 free inodes index

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Race Condition in Assigning Inodes

Process A Assigns inode I from super block Sleeps while reading inode(a) Process B Process C

Tries to assign inode from super block Super block empty(b) Search for free inodes on disk, puts inode I in super block (c)

Inode I in core Does usual activity Completes search, assigns another inode(d)

Assigns inode I from super block I is in use! Assign another inode(e)

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Race Condition in Assigning Inodes

Time (a) I

(b)

empty

(c)

Free inodes

I K

(d)

Free inodes

(e)

Free inodes

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Table of Contents
Inodes Structure of a Regular File Directories Conversion of a Path Name to an Inode Super Block Inode Assignment to a New File Allocation of Disk Blocks Other File Types Summary
Internal representation of files 50

Linked List of Free Disk Block Numbers

Super block list

109 106 103 100 .. 109 211 208 205 202 211 310 307 304 301

112

214

310 409 406 403 400

313

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Algorithm for Allocating Disk Block

algorithm alloc
- The kernel wants to allocate a block from a file system it allocates the next available block in the super block list - Once allocated , the block cannot be reallocated until it becomes free - If the allocated block is the last block , the kernel treats it as a pointer to a block that contains a list of free blocks The kernel locks super block, reads block just taken from free list, copies block numbers in block into super block, releases block buffer,and unlocks super block - Otherwise, The kernels gets buffer for block removed from super block list , zero buffer contents, decrements total count of free blocks, and marks super block modified

Internal representation of files

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Requesting and Freeing Disk Blocks

super block list 109 109 211 208 112

205 202

..

original configuration 109 949 .. 109 211 208 205 202 . 112 After freeing block number 949

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Requesting and Freeing Disk Blocks

109 .. 109 211 208 112 205 202 .

After assigning block number(949) 211 208 205 202 112 211 344 341 338 335 . 243 After assigning block number(109) replenish super block free list
Internal representation of files 54

Table of Contents
Introduction Inodes Structure of a regular file Directories Conversion of a path name to an Inode Super block Inode assignment to a new file Allocation of disk blocks Other file types Summary
Internal representation of files 55

Other File Types

Pipe fifo(first-in-first-out) Its data is transient: once data is read from a pipe, it cannot be read again Use only direct block (not the indirect block) Special file block device, character device The inode contains the major and minor device number Major number indicates a device type such as terminal or disk Minor number indicates the unit number of the device

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Table of Contents
Introduction Inodes Structure of a regular file Directories Conversion of a path name to an Inode Super block Inode assignment to a new file Allocation of disk blocks Other file types Summary
Internal representation of files 57

Summary
Inode is the data structure that describes the attributes of a

file, including the layout of its data on disk. Two version of the inode
Disk copy : store the inode information when file is not in use In-core copy : record the information about active files.

ialloc/ifree : assignment of a disk inode iget/iput : allocation of in-core inodes bmap : locate disk blocks of a file, according to byte offset Directories : files that correlate file name components to inode numbers namei : convert file names to inodes alloc/free : assignment of new disk blocks to a file
Internal representation of files 58