Windows and Unix/Linux File and Directory Structure
UNIX/Linux and Microsoft Windows XP have similar file structures, that is, the way files and directories are organized on a hard disk. They implement a tree-structure, or hierarchial, file system. A directory can contain any number of files. A directory can also contain other directories.
UNIX file structure:
Directories ("places" to store files) are organized into a hierarchial structure
that fans out like an upside-down tree. The top-most directory is known as the
root and is written as a forward slash (/). The
root can contain many
directories, each of which can contain subdirectories; each of these can contain
more subdirectories, and so on. A subdirectory is said to be the "child" of the
directory that holds it (it's "parent"). The diagram below shows a portion of
the file organization on moon, the Department's file
server. According to this diagram,
there are four directories under the root. The directory
data has several
subdirectories including moon and everest.
The directory moon has two subdirectories, array1 and array2.
Directory array2 has two subdirectories, aa and bb. Directory aa has many
subdirectories, one for each user who have accounts in the Department. Users
have complete control over how they wish to organize their directories and
subdirectories.
A pathname is the notation used to point to a particular file or directory; it tells you the path of directories you must travel to get where you want to go. There are two types of pathnames: absolute and relative.
An absolute pathname always starts from the root directory, which is
indicated by a slash (/). So, for example, the pathname for
the file quiz1.doc is:
/data/moon/array2/aa/tbw/courses/G130/quizzes/quiz1.doc.
The first slash indicates that we are starting at the root, and is necessary for
indicating that a pathname is absolute. The remaining slashes
are delimiters or separators.
A relative pathname points to a file or directory relative to your current working directory. Unless you specify an absolute pathname (starting with a slash) the shell assumes you are using a relative pathname. Starting in your current location (your working directory), you can trace your way up and down the directory hierarchy.
Microsoft Windows file structure:
The file structure is similar to the UNIX file structure. The two main
differences are: (1) Microsoft Windows uses a backslash (\) as a delimiter
between directory names while UNIX uses a front slash (/);
(2) Microsoft Windows
storage devices such as hard disks, floppy disks, CDROM's and Zip drives that
contain file systems have a drive letter prefix. Floppy drives are typically
A: drives, hard disks typically C:, etc. If the
quiz1.doc file in the diagram was located on the C: drive of a PC the
path would be:
C:\data\moon\array2\aa\tbw\courses\G130\quizzes\quiz1.doc
Samba is the software that allows Microsoft Windows XP (with its file structure) store and access files on moon, the Department's Unix file server. Samba and our Windows XP network environment are configured so that when you log onto any Windows PC in the Department, your Unix home directory on moon is automatically mapped as the U: drive.
If user tbw logs onto a Windows PC and opens Windows Explorer he can go to his U: drive and see all of the files in his home directory that are stored on moon, the Department's file server. For example, according to the file structure in the diagram on the web page, there are four directories in the tbw home directory (courses, memos, data and todo). Clicking on the U: drive in Windows Explorer would show those four directories.
User tbw could also look at those same directories by using the SSH program on the PC to log onto the Linux computer called earth and then typing the Unix/Linux command "ls -a". The four directories (courses, memos, data and todo) would be displayed as well as some other files and directories to be discussed later.