Final answer:
When moving from contiguous to indexed methods in file storage, there is a trade-off in terms of the space needed to store the file.
In a contiguous method, files are stored in a continuous sequence of blocks, while in an indexed method, a separate index block is created to store the addresses of the file blocks.
Step-by-step explanation:
The trade-off with an indexed method is that it requires additional space for the index block. This index block contains the addresses of the actual data blocks that make up the file.
So, while indexed methods may introduce additional overhead in terms of storing the index block, they allow for more flexibility in file storage as the file can be dispersed across different locations.
For example, let's say we have a file stored contiguously in five blocks. In this case, we would only need five blocks of storage. However, if we switch to an indexed method, we need an additional block to store the index, resulting in a total of six blocks used.
So, the trade-off is that indexed methods require more space, but offer the advantage of scattered storage and more efficient file retrieval.