Allocation Methods

n An allocation method refers to how disk blocks are

allocated for files:

n Contiguous allocation
n Linked allocation
n Indexed allocation

Operating System Concepts

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Silberschatz, Galvin and Gagne 2002

Contiguous Allocation

n Each file occupies a set of contiguous blocks on the disk.

n Simple only starting location (block #) and length
(number of blocks) are required.

n Random access.
n Wasteful of space (dynamic storage-allocation problem).
n Files cannot grow.

Operating System Concepts

12.2

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1

Contiguous Allocation of Disk Space

Operating System Concepts

12.3

Silberschatz, Galvin and Gagne 2002

Extent-Based Systems
n Many newer file systems (I.e. Veritas File System) use a
modified contiguous allocation scheme.

n Extent-based file systems allocate disk blocks in extents .

n An extent is a contiguous block of disks. Extents are
allocated for file allocation. A file consists of one or more
extents.

Operating System Concepts

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2

Linked Allocation
n Each file is a linked list of disk blocks: blocks may be
scattered anywhere on the disk.

block

pointer

Operating System Concepts

Silberschatz, Galvin and Gagne 2002

12.5

Linked Allocation (Cont.)

n Simple need only starting address

n Free-space management system no waste of space
n No random access
n Mapping
Q
LA/511
R

Block to be accessed is the Qth block in the linked chain of

blocks representing the file.
Displacement into block = R + 1
File-allocation table (FAT) disk-space allocation used by MS-DOS
and OS/2.

Operating System Concepts

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3

Linked Allocation

Operating System Concepts

12.7

Silberschatz, Galvin and Gagne 2002

File-Allocation Table

Operating System Concepts

12.8

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4

Indexed Allocation
n Brings all pointers together into the index block.
n Logical view.

index table

Operating System Concepts

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Silberschatz, Galvin and Gagne 2002

Example of Indexed Allocation

Operating System Concepts

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5

Indexed Allocation (Cont.)

n Need index table

n Random access
n Dynamic access without external fragmentation, but have
overhead of index block.

n Mapping from logical to physical in a file of maximum size

of 256K words and block size of 512 words. We need
only 1 block for index table.
Q
LA/512
R

Q = displacement into index table

R = displacement into block

Operating System Concepts

Silberschatz, Galvin and Gagne 2002

12.11

Indexed Allocation Mapping (Cont.)

n Mapping from logical to physical in a file of unbounded

length (block size of 512 words).

n Linked scheme Link blocks of index table (no limit on

size).
Q1
LA / (512 x 511)
R1

Q 1 = block of index table

R 1 is used as follows:

Q2
R 1 / 512
R2

Q 2 = displacement into block of index table

R 2 displacement into block of file:

Operating System Concepts

12.12

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6

Indexed Allocation Mapping (Cont.)

n T w o - l e v e l i n d e x ( m a x i m u m f i l e s i z e i s 5 1 23 )
Q1
LA / (512 x 512)
R1

Q 1 = displacement into outer-index

R 1 is used as follows:

Q2
R 1 / 512
R2

Q 2 = displacement into block of index table

R 2 displacement into block of file:

Operating System Concepts

Silberschatz, Galvin and Gagne 2002

12.13

Indexed Allocation Mapping (Cont.)

outer-index

index table

Operating System Concepts

12.14

file

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7

Combined Scheme: UNIX (4K bytes per block)

Operating System Concepts

Silberschatz, Galvin and Gagne 2002

12.15

Free-Space Management
n Bit vector

(n b l o c k s )
0

n-1

bit[i ] =

678

0
1

block[i ] free
block[i ]

occupied

Block number calculation

(number of bits per word) *
(number of 0-value words) +
offset of first 1 bit

Operating System Concepts

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Free-Space Management (Cont.)

n Bit map requires extra space. Example:
b l o c k s i z e = 2 12 b y t e s
disk size = 2
n = 2

30

30

/2 12 = 2

bytes (1 gigabyte)
18

bits (or 32K bytes)

n Easy to get contiguous files

n Linked list (free list)
F Cannot get contiguous space easily
F No waste of space

n Grouping
n Counting

Operating System Concepts

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Silberschatz, Galvin and Gagne 2002

Free-Space Management (Cont.)

n Need to protect:
F Pointer to free list
F Bit map
4Must be kept on disk
4 Copy in memory and disk may differ.
4 C a n n o t a l l o w f o r b l o c k [i ] t o h a v e a s i t u a t i o n w h e r e b i t [ i ] =
1 i n m e m o r y a n d b i t [ i] = 0 o n d i s k .

F Solution:
4 Set bit[i] = 1 in disk.
4 A l l o c a t e b l o c k [i ]
4 Set bit[i] = 1 i n m e m o r y

Operating System Concepts

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9

Linked Free Space List on Disk

Operating System Concepts

12.19

Silberschatz, Galvin and Gagne 2002

Efficiency and Performance

n Efficiency dependent on:
F disk allocation and directory algorithms
F types of data kept in files directory entry

n Performance
F disk cache separate section of main memory for
frequently used blocks

F free-behind and read-ahead techniques to optimize

sequential access

F improve PC performance by dedicating section of memory

as virtual disk, or RAM disk.

Operating System Concepts

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