What does FAT stand for?

What does FAT stand for?

• A. File Allocation Table
• B. File Allocation Tables - storage changes
• C. File Allocation Tables - system structure
• D. File Allocation Tables - system storage changes

Answer: (D)

FAT stands for File Allocation Table. This describes the data structure used by several Windows/DOS file systems to map where a file’s data sits on the disk. The disk is divided into clusters, and the table records the cluster numbers that belong to each file, effectively linking those clusters in order to reconstruct the file when read. When a file is created or grows, the system allocates free clusters and updates the table to reflect that linkage; when a file is deleted, its clusters are marked free again. The emphasis is on a table that manages how space is allocated, which is why the canonical term uses the singular “Table.”

FAT stands for File Allocation Table. This describes the data structure used by several Windows/DOS file systems to map where a file’s data sits on the disk. The disk is divided into clusters, and the table records the cluster numbers that belong to each file, effectively linking those clusters in order to reconstruct the file when read. When a file is created or grows, the system allocates free clusters and updates the table to reflect that linkage; when a file is deleted, its clusters are marked free again. The emphasis is on a table that manages how space is allocated, which is why the canonical term uses the singular “Table.”