An inode has 12 direct block pointers and the block size is 4 KB. What is the largest file that can be addressed using the direct pointers alone?
Correct answer C. 48 KB
Explanation
Each direct pointer addresses one 4 KB block, so 12 x 4 KB = 48 KB can be reached without any indirect blocks. Larger files use the single, double and triple indirect pointers, which point to blocks full of further pointers. Small files therefore need no extra disk reads for indexing, which suits the many small files found on typical systems.
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