<s>
Mounting	B-Application
is	O
a	O
process	O
by	O
which	O
a	O
computer	O
's	O
operating	B-General_Concept
system	I-General_Concept
makes	O
files	B-Operating_System
and	O
directories	B-Application
on	O
a	O
storage	B-General_Concept
device	I-General_Concept
(	O
such	O
as	O
hard	B-Device
drive	I-Device
,	O
CD-ROM	B-Device
,	O
or	O
network	B-General_Concept
share	I-General_Concept
)	O
available	O
for	O
users	O
to	O
access	O
via	O
the	O
computer	O
's	O
file	B-Application
system	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
general	O
,	O
the	O
process	O
of	O
mounting	B-Application
comprises	O
the	O
operating	B-General_Concept
system	I-General_Concept
acquiring	O
access	O
to	O
the	O
storage	O
medium	O
;	O
recognizing	O
,	O
reading	O
,	O
and	O
processing	O
file	B-Application
system	I-Application
structure	O
and	O
metadata	O
on	O
it	O
before	O
registering	O
them	O
to	O
the	O
virtual	B-Application
file	I-Application
system	I-Application
(	O
VFS	O
)	O
component	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
location	O
in	O
the	O
VFS	O
to	O
which	O
the	O
newly	O
mounted	O
medium	O
was	O
registered	O
is	O
called	O
a	O
"	O
mount	O
point	O
"	O
;	O
when	O
the	O
mounting	B-Application
process	O
is	O
completed	O
,	O
the	O
user	O
can	O
access	O
files	B-Operating_System
and	O
directories	B-Application
on	O
the	O
medium	O
from	O
there	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
An	O
opposite	O
process	O
of	O
mounting	B-Application
is	O
called	O
unmounting	O
,	O
in	O
which	O
the	O
operating	B-General_Concept
system	I-General_Concept
cuts	O
off	O
all	O
user	O
access	O
to	O
files	B-Operating_System
and	O
directories	B-Application
on	O
the	O
mount	O
point	O
,	O
writes	O
the	O
remaining	O
queue	O
of	O
user	O
data	O
to	O
the	O
storage	B-General_Concept
device	I-General_Concept
,	O
refreshes	O
file	B-Application
system	I-Application
metadata	O
,	O
then	O
relinquishes	O
access	O
to	O
the	O
device	O
,	O
making	O
the	O
storage	B-General_Concept
device	I-General_Concept
safe	O
for	O
removal	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Normally	O
,	O
when	O
the	O
computer	O
is	O
shutting	B-Device
down	I-Device
,	O
every	O
mounted	O
storage	B-General_Concept
device	I-General_Concept
will	O
undergo	O
an	O
unmounting	O
process	O
to	O
ensure	O
that	O
all	O
queued	O
data	O
was	O
written	O
to	O
it	O
,	O
and	O
to	O
preserve	O
the	O
integrity	O
of	O
the	O
file	B-Application
system	I-Application
structure	O
on	O
the	O
media	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
mount	O
point	O
is	O
a	O
location	O
in	O
the	O
partition	B-Application
used	O
as	O
a	O
root	O
filesystem	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
,	O
magnetic	O
media	O
are	O
still	O
the	O
most	O
common	O
and	O
are	O
available	O
as	O
hard	B-Device
disk	I-Device
drives	I-Device
and	O
,	O
less	O
frequently	O
,	O
floppy	B-Device
disks	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
Before	O
any	O
of	O
them	O
can	O
be	O
used	O
for	O
storage	O
,	O
the	O
means	O
by	O
which	O
information	O
is	O
read	O
and	O
written	O
must	O
be	O
organized	O
and	O
knowledge	O
of	O
this	O
must	O
be	O
available	O
to	O
the	O
operating	B-General_Concept
system	I-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
organization	O
is	O
called	O
a	O
filesystem	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Each	O
different	O
filesystem	B-Application
provides	O
the	O
host	O
operating	B-General_Concept
system	I-General_Concept
with	O
metadata	O
so	O
that	O
it	O
knows	O
how	O
to	O
read	O
and	O
write	O
data	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
When	O
the	O
medium	O
(	O
or	O
media	O
,	O
when	O
the	O
filesystem	B-Application
is	O
a	O
volume	O
filesystem	B-Application
as	O
in	O
RAID	B-Architecture
arrays	I-Architecture
)	O
is	O
mounted	O
,	O
these	O
metadata	O
are	O
read	O
by	O
the	O
operating	B-General_Concept
system	I-General_Concept
so	O
that	O
it	O
can	O
use	O
the	O
storage	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Unix-like	O
operating	B-General_Concept
systems	I-General_Concept
often	O
include	O
software	O
and	O
tools	O
that	O
assist	O
in	O
the	O
mounting	B-Application
process	O
and	O
provide	O
it	O
new	O
functionality	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Some	O
of	O
these	O
strategies	O
have	O
been	O
coined	O
"	O
auto-mounting	O
"	O
as	O
a	O
reflection	O
of	O
their	O
purpose	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
many	O
situations	O
,	O
file	B-Application
systems	I-Application
other	O
than	O
the	O
root	O
need	O
to	O
be	O
available	O
as	O
soon	O
as	O
the	O
operating	B-General_Concept
system	I-General_Concept
has	O
booted	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
All	O
Unix-like	O
systems	O
therefore	O
provide	O
a	O
facility	O
for	O
mounting	B-Application
file	B-Application
systems	I-Application
at	O
boot	O
time	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
System	O
administrators	O
define	O
these	O
file	B-Application
systems	I-Application
in	O
the	O
configuration	O
file	O
fstab	B-Protocol
(	O
vfstab	B-Protocol
in	O
Solaris	O
)	O
,	O
which	O
also	O
indicates	O
options	O
and	O
mount	O
points	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
some	O
situations	O
,	O
there	O
is	O
no	O
need	O
to	O
mount	O
certain	O
file	B-Application
systems	I-Application
at	O
boot	O
time	O
,	O
although	O
their	O
use	O
may	O
be	O
desired	O
thereafter	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
There	O
are	O
some	O
utilities	O
for	O
Unix-like	O
systems	O
that	O
allow	O
the	O
mounting	B-Application
of	O
predefined	O
file	B-Application
systems	I-Application
upon	O
demand	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Common	O
examples	O
include	O
USB	B-Architecture
mass	I-Architecture
storage	I-Architecture
(	O
flash	O
drives	O
)	O
,	O
memory	O
cards	O
,	O
CD-ROMs	B-Device
,	O
and	O
DVDs	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
example	O
,	O
a	O
floppy	B-Device
disk	I-Device
that	O
has	O
been	O
supermounted	O
can	O
be	O
physically	O
removed	O
from	O
the	O
system	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
An	O
automounter	O
will	O
automatically	O
mount	O
a	O
file	B-Application
system	I-Application
when	O
a	O
reference	O
is	O
made	O
to	O
the	O
directory	B-Application
atop	O
which	O
it	O
should	O
be	O
mounted	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
is	O
usually	O
used	O
for	O
file	B-Application
systems	I-Application
on	O
network	O
servers	O
,	O
rather	O
than	O
relying	O
on	O
events	O
such	O
as	O
the	O
insertion	O
of	O
media	O
,	O
as	O
would	O
be	O
appropriate	O
for	O
removable	O
media	O
.	O
</s>
