Linked file system: Towards exploiting linked data technology in file systems

Most of the file systems today are based on desktop metaphor utilizing hierarchies of folders and sub-folders for information storage and retrieval. A folder is usually assumed to store the semantically related information in the form of files and sub-folders. However, there always exist related files somewhere else in the local file system hierarchy. Users often fail to find these disconnected files or discover the relationship among these. File systems maintain a plain set of metadata items about each file which could be utilized to discover some of the hidden relationships. However, this meta-information is very sparse as most of this metadata is rarely entered by the user. Moreover, files in a file system are mostly private and cannot get the benefit of collaborative tagging. Web of Data, on the other hand also contains information related to the file system objects which could be utilized for linking with information in file systems. The purpose of introducing Linked Data technology was to solve similar issues on the web. This article investigates the exploitation of Linked Data technology in file systems and provides a comprehensive review on the possible use of Linked Data Technology in file systems.