Levykuvatiedostojen

Levykuvatiedostojen, also known as disk image files, are compressed or uncompressed representations of the entire contents of a storage medium such as a CD, DVD, Blu‑ray, hard drive, or USB flash drive. The file contains all data bits, file system structure, boot sectors, and sometimes the original formatting information, allowing the disk to be replicated exactly on another medium or in a virtual environment.

Common formats include ISO, BIN/CUE, IMG, VHD, VMDK, and NEO. ISO 9660 is the most widely used for optical media, providing a file system standard that is recognized by most operating systems. VDI, VMDK, and VHD are used for virtual machine disks, enabling virtualization software to mount the image as if it were a physical drive. BIN/CUE pairs often contain additional audio tracks or non‑ISO compliant data.

Advantages of using a disk image include ease of backup, distribution, and archiving. Images can be verified for integrity with checksums, encrypted for security, or compressed to save space. They are also essential for creating bootable media, performing forensic analysis, and emulating legacy systems.

Creating a disc image is typically done with utilities such as dd, Clonezilla, or commercial software that provides a graphical interface. Mounting an image can be accomplished by kernel support in Linux and macOS, or with third‑party tools like Daemon Tools on Windows.

In summary, levykuvatiedostojen provide a flexible, portable, and accurate method to capture, preserve, and utilize the contents of storage media across different platforms and use cases.