INODE

 Inode:

1. An inode is an index node.

2. An Inode number is a uniquely existing number for all the files in Linux and unix like systems.

3. When a file is created on a system, a file name and Inode number is assigned to it.

4. Inode doesn't contain the file name. Reason for this is to maintain hard-links for the files.

Inode Contents

An Inode is a data structure containing metadata about the files.

Following contents are stored in the Inode from a file:

• User ID of file
• Group ID of file
• Device ID
• File size
• Date of creation
• Permission
• Owner of the file
• File protection flag
• Link counter to determine number of hard links

Note: The Inode doesn't contain file content, instead it has a pointer to that data.