3 ms·
Seems like a strange choice to have a maximum file size several orders of magnitude larger than your maximum volume size.
by fusiongyro 14y ago
Seems like a strange choice to have a maximum file size several orders of magnitude larger than your maximum volume size.
- ajross 14y agoIt's just a side effect. The maximum volume size is defined by the size of the (in practice, always fixed-size) word used to store a block address. But generally files are stored as a tree or some other recursive data structure. If these have a limit at all it's either deliberately imposed (e.g. the triple-indirect block in a v7 Unix inode) or arbitrary (maximum depth of a maximally unablanced btree that fills the volume). Basically, you have to limit your device size if you want sane block ID semantics. Files can be infinite if you want.