Red Hat ENTERPRISE LINUX 4 - INTRODUCTION TO SYSTEM ADMINISTRATION Administration Manual

Also see for ENTERPRISE LINUX 4 - DEVELOPER TOOLS GUIDE: Installation guide Installation guide Tuning guide Installation guide Manual

Contents

Chapter 5. Managing Storage 715.5.1.1.2.2. Extended PartitionsExtended partitions were developed in response to the need for more than four partitions per disk drive.An extended partition can itself contain multiple partitions, greatly extending the number of partitionspossible on a single drive. The introduction of extended partitions was driven by the ever-increasingcapacities of new disk drives.5.5.1.1.2.3. Logical PartitionsLogical partitions are those partitions contained within an extended partition; in terms of use they areno different than a non-extended primary partition.5.5.1.1.3. Partition Type FieldEach partition has a type field that contains a code indicating the partition’s anticipated usage. Thetype field may or may not reflect the computer’s operating system. Instead, it may reflect how data isto be stored within the partition. The following section contains more information on this importantpoint.5.5.2. File SystemsEven with the proper mass storage device, properly configured, and appropriately partitioned, wewould still be unable to store and retrieve information easily — we are missing a way of structuringand organizing that information. What we need is a file system.The concept of a file system is so fundamental to the use of mass storage devices that the average com-puter user often does not even make the distinction between the two. However, system administratorscannot afford to ignore file systems and their impact on day-to-day work.A file system is a method of representing data on a mass storage device. File systems usually includethe following features:• File-based data storage• Hierarchical directory (sometimes known as "folder") structure• Tracking of file creation, access, and modification times• Some level of control over the type of access allowed for a specific file• Some concept of file ownership• Accounting of space utilizedNot all file systems posses every one of these features. For example, a file system constructed for asingle-user operating system could easily use a more simplified method of access control and couldconceivably do away with support for file ownership altogether.One point to keep in mind is that the file system used can have a large impact on the nature of yourdaily workload. By ensuring that the file system you use in your organization closely matches yourorganization’s functional requirements, you can ensure that not only is the file system up to the task,but that it is more easily and efficiently maintainable.With this in mind, the following sections explore these features in more detail.