qSlack
file slack space
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DOS allocates disk space in multiple-sector chunks called "clusters".
Clusters typically hold 2K, 4K, or 8K of data.
When DOS creates a file, it must allocate at least one cluster for
that file. Since file sizes vary, some portion of the last cluster is
wasted (it contains no file data).
┌─½K┬─½K┬─½K┬─½K┬─½K┬─½K┬─½K┬─½K┐ In this figure, a 2-byte file
│hi │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ (just the word "hi") is stored in
└┴┴┴┴┴┴┴┴┴┴┴┴┴┴┴┴┴┴┴┴┴┴┴┴┴┴┴┴┴┴┴┘ a 4096-byte cluster, so 4094 bytes
└──────────────┬────────────────┘ of storage are "wasted" -- that's
4K cluster the "file slack".
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■ DoubleSpace's allocation scheme that minimizes slack space; a 1-byte
file occupies only 512 bytes of physical storage.