Initialization Overview

Scenarios

• System disk

  When a server is created, a system disk is automatically initialized with Master Boot Record (MBR).

• Newly created empty data disk

  After you attach a newly created empty data disk to a server, you must initialize the disk before using it. The initialization includes creating partitions, creating file systems, and mounting partitions.

  • If a data disk is created together with a server, EVS automatically attaches it to the server. You only need to initialize it to make it available for use.
  • If a data disk is created separately, you need to first attach it to a server and then initialize it.

  For detailed operation instructions, see Table 1.

• Existing data disk
  An existing data disk is a disk created from a data source (snapshot, backup, or image) or one detached from another server.

  • You can choose not to re-partition the disk, but use the disk existing partitions.
    • In Linux, create new mount points and mount the partitions, and configure auto mount at system start.
    • In Windows, no further action is required. You can simply use the existing partitions.
  • You can also re-initialize the data disk.

    Re-partitioning a disk will erase all the existing data on the disk, so you are advised to use snapshots to back up the disk data first.

    • In Linux, unmount the partitions, delete them (by running fdisk <disk-name>, entering d and the partition number, and entering w), and then re-initialize the disk.
    • In Windows, delete the partitions (using the volume deletion tool) and then re-initialize the disk.

    For detailed initialization operations, see Table 1.

Impact on the System

• An initialization operation includes partitioning, which deletes all the data on the disk.
• If you change the partition style of a disk, data on the disk will be erased. Select an appropriate partition style when initializing disks.
• Initializing a disk does not delete the snapshots created for the disk, so you can still use snapshots to roll back data to the source disk after the disk is initialized.

Operation Instructions

Major initialization steps include creating partitions and file systems, mounting partitions, and configuring auto mount at system startup. In Linux, you can choose different partition styles based on your disk capacity. For details, see Table 2.

The maximum disk size that MBR supports is 2 TiB, and that GPT supports is 18 EiB. If your disk is greater than 2 TiB or you plan to expand it to over 2 TiB later, use GPT when initializing disks.

Partition Styles

Common disk partition styles include MBR and GPT. In Linux, you can choose different partition styles based on your disk capacity, as described in Partition Styles.