Which file structure database, commonly used on floppy disks, contains information about files stored on the drive?

• A. Master Boot Record (MBR)
• B. File Allocation Table (FAT)
• C. Master File Table (MFT)
• D. Disk Operating System (DOS)

Answer: (B)

When a disk needs to store and later retrieve files, the system must keep track of where each file’s data actually resides on the media. This is done by a metadata structure that acts like an index or map, guiding the system to the exact data blocks that belong to each file.

On floppy disks, the common file system is FAT (File Allocation Table). The FAT serves as a table where each entry corresponds to a disk cluster and indicates whether that cluster is free, marks the end of a file, or points to the next cluster in the same file. A directory entry tells you the starting cluster of a file, and the system follows the chain in the FAT to piece together all the file’s data. This simple, clustered structure is why FAT is described as the file structure database for these drives, especially with FAT12 used on floppies.

The other options aren’t the file structure database used for this purpose: the Master Boot Record resides at the disk’s very start and contains boot and partition information, not file contents. The Master File Table is part of NTFS and stores metadata for files there, not used on floppy disks. Disk Operating System refers to the operating system that uses the file system, not the file layout map itself.