Q16: Files stored in contiguous blocks on disk

Question #16: What will be the disadvantage if files were to be allocated only in contiguous blocks on a disk?

Options:

1. Head of the disk will require too much movement to traverse the file.

2. Head of the disk will require minimal movement as the file is contiguous.

3. It will be difficult to calculate the block location of block I of a file.

4. It will be difficult to find the contiguous space for a large file in the disk and file size growth would be a heavy operation.

Solution: Head of the disk movement will be minimal as the file is contiguous, hence this is advantage. Also, calculating the ith block would be easy as they are sequential. The problem is that dynamic growth as we are not sure that there will be enough blocks available after the allocated blocks. In the worst case we will need to move the whole file. Hence, the correct option is 4th.