
Figure 29. Fragmentation Example
To expand on fragment allocation one step further,
only
the last 4KB block of a
file can be
partially allocated
, that is to say allocated as fragments of the logical
block size, and the file must be directly referenced by the i-node, not indirect.
When blocks (4KB) or partial blocks (a fragment multiple) are allocated,
contiguous space
must
be available for them. Hence the statement in the last
example relating to extending a file 2 fragments beyond a 4K boundary. If the file
was 9 fragments, and is extended to 18 fragments, then this is the case: 2 full
blocks of 8 contiguous fragments, and 2 contiguous fragments must ...