Help Center/ Dedicated Enterprise Storage Service/ User Guide/ Quick Start/ Initializing a Data Disk/ Disk Partition Style
Updated on 2022-02-22 GMT+08:00
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Disk Partition Style

After a disk is attached to a BMS, you need to log in to the BMS to initialize the disk, that is, create partitions for the disk. The disk can be used after being initialized.

Context

  • After attaching disks on a common I/O, high I/O, and ultra-high I/O DESS device, you can log in to the BMSs to initialize your disks.
  • After attaching disks on a common I/O (low latency), high I/O (low latency), and ultra-high I/O (low latency) DESS device, you can log in to the BMSs, run the hot_add command to find the disks that have been attached, and initialize your disks.

Disk Partition Style

Table 1 lists the common disk partition styles. For Linux operation systems (OSs), different disk partition styles require different partitioning tools.

Table 1 Disk Partition Style

Disk Partition Style

Maximum Disk Capacity

Maximum Number of Partitions

Linux Partitioning Tool

Master Boot Record (MBR)

2 TB
  • 4 primary partitions
  • 3 primary partitions and 1 extended partition
NOTE:

With the MBR partition style, primary partitions and an extended partition can be included, where the extended partition can contain several logical partitions.

For example, if 6 partitions need to be created, you can create the partitions in the following two ways:

  • 3 primary partitions and 1 extended partition, with the extended partition containing 3 logical partitions
  • 1 primary partition and 1 extended partition, with the extended partition containing 5 logical partitions

You can use either of the following tools:

  • fdisk
  • parted

Guid Partition Table (GPT)

(GPT, Guid Partition Table)

18 EB

NOTE:

1 EB = 1048576 TB

Unlimited

NOTE:

Disk partitions allocated using GPT are not categorized.

parted

The maximum disk capacity supported by MBR is 2 TB, and that supported by GPT is 18 EB. Currently, an EVS data disk supports up to 32 TB. Therefore, use the GPT partition style if your disk capacity is greater than 2 TB.

If you change the disk partition style after the disk has been used, the original data on the disk will be cleared. Therefore, select a proper disk partition style when initializing the disk.

Parent topic: Initializing a Data Disk