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→Linking Files
A '''Hard link''' is a reference to the physical data on a file system.
'''Advantages''' of hard links are that if one hard link remains (even if original file has been removed), the data in that hard linked file is NOT lost, as well as hard linked files will automatically be updated to that of the original file since they share the same '''i-node number'''<br>and therefore are considered to be the same file in the Unix/Linux file system.
'''Disadvantages''' of hard links are that they take-up extra space,<br>you cannot hard link directories, and you cannot hard link files from other Unix/Linux servers<br>(since the inode number may already be used by the other Unix/Linux server).