An inode is a structure on the disk that represents a file, directory, symbolic link, etc. Inodes residedo innot contain the data of the file / directory / etc. that they represent. Instead, they link to the blocks that actually contain the data. This lets the inodes themselves have a particularwell-defined Blocksize Group'swhich inodelets tablethem ([[#Determining_which_Block_Group_contains_an_Inode|seebe below]])placed in easily indexed arrays. Each block group has an array of inodes it is responsible for, and areconversely separateevery frominode thewithin actuala contentsfile datasystem belongs to one of such tables (and one of such block groups).
