6. Disk Partitions and Filesystems

Cylinders, sectors, tracks, and heads are the building blocks of spindle storage. Understanding the millions of bytes confined to a space that is half an inch thick, two inches wide, and three inches in length is critical to data recovery.

Consider the smallest form of storage that every person, at one time or another, has held in the palm of his or her hand. Most of us over the age of 25 recollect ravaging our desk, digging for the all-important, “critical-to-life” 1.44 MB floppy. This critical piece of plastic never fails to be found under the heaviest object on the desk. It is amazing that any data survives on the floppy after removing the seven-pound differential equations bible that was covering it. However, ...

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