Number of the first cluster of the file is stored in the directory entry for that file, along with file size, attributes, and last modification date. Space for the directories other than root is allocated among the data clusters, just as if they were ordinary files. Only root directory has special location. Based on that we can calculatete maximum partition sizes for FAT file systems. The next example shows coexistance of DOS and Linux on the same disk and some more insights on the structure of the extended partition.
Beginners can skip it and go to the next section.
First of all, this configuration could be derived from Example 2 if I we shrink both FAT partitions and then install Linux. Also you probably noticed that Linux native file system uses different way of organizing files than does FAT file system. The main structure is called i-node table. There is one i-node allocated for each file. The i-node keeps file size, attributes and file creation, last modification, and last access times.