Everything is a File

One of the most important concepts in understanding the design of NTFS is that important data are allocated to files. This includes the basic file system administrative data that are typically hidden by other file systems. In fact, the files that contain the administrative data can be located anywhere in the volume, like a normal file can. Therefore, an NTFS file system does not have a specific layout like other file systems do. The entire file system is considered a data area, and any sector can be allocated to a file. The only consistent layout is that the first sectors of the volume contain the boot sector and boot code.