UNIX Filesystems: Evolution, Design, and Implementation

Summary

The number of non disk or pseudo-based filesystems has grown substantially since the early 1990s. Although the /proc filesystem is the most widely known, a number of memory-based filesystems are in common use, particularly for use with temporary filesystems and swap management.

It is difficult in a single chapter to do justice to all of these filesystems. For example, the Linux /proc filesystem provides a number of features not described here. The Solaris /proc filesystem has many more features above what has been covered in the chapter. [MAUR01] contains further details of some of the facilities offered by the Solaris /proc filesystem.