Symbolic links, also known as symlinks, are special files that contain a reference to another file or directory. When you access a symlink, your operating system (OS) follows the reference to the file or directory that the symlink points to, as if you had accessed the target file or directory directly.
It is possible to create symlinks across file system boundaries because the reference contained in the symlink is just a path to the target file or directory, and the OS follows this path regardless of which file system the symlink and the target are located on. This means that you can create a symlink on one file system that points to a target on a different file system.
For example, suppose you have a file named "myfile.txt" on the root of your home directory, which is located on the "C:" drive. You could create a symlink to this file on the "D:" drive by using the following command:
ln -s C:\Users\YourName\myfile.txt D:\myfile.txt
This creates a symlink on the "D:" drive named "myfile.txt" that points to the file "myfile.txt" on the "C:" drive. When you access the symlink on the "D:" drive, the OS will follow the reference and access the file on the "C:" drive.
It is important to note that the ability to create symlinks across file system boundaries is not a universal feature, and it may be restricted or not available on some systems. For example, some versions of Windows do not support creating symlinks that cross file system boundaries by default, although this can be enabled through additional configuration.