Files do not actually reside inside directories. ... The directory holds two pieces of information about each file: . ... an inode number which acts as a pointer to where the system can find the information it needs about this file. Filenames are only used by the system to locate a file and its corresponding inode number. ... To the system, the file is the inode number. Multiple filenames can be used to refer to the same file by creating a link between an inode and each of the filenames. ...