>>> Interestingly enough, in NTFS, if all the data fits in the same 
>>> sector as the inode[1], it goes into the same sector.
>>
>> ....which the result that if you have many hundreds of tiny files in a 
>> single directory... the directory structure becomes rather large and 
>> slow to traverse. ;-) (Still better than wasting half your harddrive 
>> though!)
> 
> Are you joking? Or are you serious? Because from what I understand, the 
> directory structures have nothing in them but names and pointers into 
> the master file table (which stores the file records that are the 
> equivalent of inodes). In other words, the directory hasn't anything to 
> do with the files, and doesn't get bigger just because you're storing 
> small files.
> 
> I could be wrong about that, tho, if you actually have information that 
> says otherwise.

The information I heard is that "small" files are stored in-line inside 
the directory structure to prevent additional seeks (and wasted 
half-blocks). The source I got that from wasn't highly technical, so 
this might be a simplification.

-- 
http://blog.orphi.me.uk/
http://www.zazzle.com/MathematicalOrchid*

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