Definition:
- object that stores metadata about a file or directory on a file system.
- This metadata can includ:
- time-based values such as when a file was created and last modified
- permission and ownership information
- the block locations of a file’s data on a storage device
- other miscellaneous information.
- Each inode on a file system is identified by a unique integer called an inode number.
- Whenever the system or an application tries to access a file, it searches for the appropriate inode number in a data structure called an inode table.
- The inode table maps an inode number to its corresponding file or directory name.