FAT (File Allocation Table)

介紹

Developed in 1977 by Microsoft Corporation

The table contains entries for each cluster

Each entry contains either:

• allocated (next cluste)
• unallocated,
• end of file,
• bad sector

Structure

Boot sector     
More reservedsectors (optional)     
FAT #1     
FAT #2     
Root directory(FAT12/16 only)     
Data region(rest of disk)

* FAT2 is a copy of FAT1

Boot Record
MBR - hands off control of the computer to the Boot Record(first sector on the partition)

* FAT mirroring can be disabled on a FAT32 drive (FAT1 empty)

FAT16 can hold a max of 2^16 65,524 addressable units