Single-file Virtual File Systems
Sometimes Virtual File System refers to a file or a group of files (not necessarily inside a concrete file system) that acts as a manageable container which should provide the functionality of a concrete file system through the usage of a software. Examples of such containers are SolFS or a single-file virtual file system in an emulator like PCTask or so-called WinUAE, Oracle's VirtualBox, Microsoft's Virtual PC, VMware.
The primary benefit for this type of file system is that it is centralized and easy to remove. A single-file virtual file system may include all the basic features expected of any file system (virtual or otherwise), but access to the internal structure of these file systems is often limited to programs specifically written to make use of the single-file virtual file system (instead of implementation through a driver allowing universal access). Another major drawback is that performance is relatively low when compared to other virtual file systems. Low performance is mostly due to the cost of shuffling virtual files when data is written or deleted from the virtual file system.
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