inodeniveau

Inodeniveau is a term used in Dutch information technology to describe operations, management, or tooling that target the inode as the primary unit of metadata in a Unix-like file system. An inode is a data structure that stores a file's metadata—type, size, permissions, ownership, timestamps, and the pointers to its data blocks—and does not contain the file name or its path.

At the inode level, file system actions can be performed without reference to the container path. This can be relevant for backup and restore processes, snapshots, or system audits where the integrity of the metadata and the resilience of data blocks are prioritized.

Typical characteristics include: granularity at the metadata level rather than at the file path level; potential for consistent state capture across renames or moves; performance implications for large numbers of small files; and complications with directories, hard links, and ACLs.

In practice, inodeniveau approaches rely on native file system features such as inode tables, journaling, and snapshot mechanisms. They can complement file-level methods and may require privileged access or file system support to ensure referential integrity and correct handling of hard links.

Notes: The term is used variably and is more common in Dutch-language discussions. Not all file systems or backup tools expose a true inode-only interface; many provide both inode- and path-based options.

See also: inode, file system, backup, snapshot.

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