Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
7
Media Structure
Flash drives and hard drives have different hardware but use many of the
same logical structures for storing and managing data. To write firmware
that formats the media or reads and writes files in formatted media, you
need to understand these structures and how to use the information in
them.
This chapter explains how information is organized in the storage media
and what information is stored in the master boot record sector that is the
first sector in most storage devices.
A Look Inside
The logical structures, addressing methods, and file systems described in this
topic have their origins in the IBM PC, its derivatives, and the Microsoft
operating systems developed for use on these computers. Over the years, the
software components have evolved to support media with larger capacities
and new capabilities. Some of the developments, such as the logical block
addressing method, simplify the job of the mass-storage host and make it
easier for embedded systems to support storage media. Other developments
Search WWH ::
Custom Search