Introduction to Data Disk Initialization Scenarios and Partition Styles
Scenarios
- System disk
A system disk does not require manual initialization because it is automatically created and initialized upon ECS creation. The default partition style is master boot record (MBR).
- Data disk
- If a data disk is created along with ECS, it will be automatically attached to the ECS.
- If a data disk is created separately, you need to manually attach it to ECS.
In both cases, you must initialize the data disk before using it. Choose an appropriate partition style based on your service plan.
Constraints
A disk created from a data source does not need to be initialized. Such a disk contains the data of the data source in the beginning. Initializing the disk may clear the initial data on this disk.
Disk Partition Styles
The maximum disk size supported by MBR is 2 TB, and that supported by GPT is 18 EB. Because an EVS data disk currently supports up to 32 TB, use GPT if your disk size is larger than 2 TB.
If the partition style is changed after the disk has been used, data on the disk will be cleared. Therefore, select an appropriate partition style when initializing the disk. If you must change the partition style to GPT after a disk has been used, it is recommended that you back up the disk data before the change.
Tabela 1 lists the common disk partition styles. In Linux, different partition styles require different partitioning tools.
Disk Partition Style |
Maximum Disk Capacity Supported |
Maximum Number of Partitions Supported |
Linux Partitioning Tool |
---|---|---|---|
Master Boot Record (MBR) |
2 TB |
With MBR, you can create several primary partitions and one extended partition. The extended partition must be divided into logical partitions before use. For example, if 6 partitions need to be created, you can create them in the following two ways:
|
|
GUID Partition Table (GPT) |
18 EB 1 EB = 1048576 TB |
Unlimited Disk partitions created using GPT are not categorized. |
parted |