Vnode
A vnode, short for virtual node, is the kernel’s in‑memory representation of a filesystem object in many BSD-derived operating systems. It provides an abstraction layer between the virtual file system switch (VFS) and the underlying filesystem implementation, allowing the kernel to treat files and directories in a uniform way regardless of the filesystem type.
Each vnode carries common metadata and a reference to its mount point, and it holds a pointer
Vnodes are reference‑counted objects. The kernel increments and decrements references with operations such as vget/vref and
The vnode abstraction is distinct from the on‑disk inode; the vnode maps to the filesystem’s internal data