In computing, what are sectors and clusters?

Sectors and clusters are fundamental concepts in data storage that refer to the way information is organized and managed on storage devices like hard drives. Sectors are the smallest physical storage units on a hard disk, typically consisting of 512 bytes or more depending on the size of the sector. They serve as the basic building blocks for reading and writing data on the disk.

Clusters, on the other hand, are groups of one or more sectors treated as a single unit by the file system. This means that when a file is saved, it is stored in whole clusters, which can improve performance by reducing the number of disk accesses needed to read or write data, since multiple sectors can be handled in a single operation. The size of a cluster can vary but is typically larger than that of a sector (often 4 KB or more), allowing for more efficient disk storage management.

Understanding these terms is crucial for data management and optimization in computing systems. The other options do not relate to these definitions; they concern different aspects of technology such as encryption, data analysis, and video storage formats.