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HOWTO: Multi Disk System Tuning

Stein Gjoen, sgjoen@nyx.net

v0.33a, 20 May 2002

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This document describes how best to use multiple disks and partitions for a Linux system. Although some of this text is Linux specific the general approach outlined here can be applied to many other multi tasking operating systems.

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1. Introduction

• 1.1 Copyright
• 1.2 Disclaimer
• 1.3 News
• 1.4 Credits
• 1.5 Translations

2. Structure

• 2.1 Logical structure
• 2.2 Document structure
• 2.3 Reading plan

3. Drive Technologies

• 3.1 Drives
• 3.2 Geometry
• 3.3 Media
• 3.4 Interfaces
• 3.5 Cabling
• 3.6 Host Adapters
• 3.7 Multi Channel Systems
• 3.8 Multi Board Systems
• 3.9 Speed Comparison
• 3.10 Benchmarking
• 3.11 Comparisons
• 3.12 Future Development
• 3.13 Recommendations

4. File System Structure

• 4.1 File System Features
• 4.2 Explanation of Terms

5. File Systems

• 5.1 General Purpose File Systems
• 5.2 Microsoft File Systems
• 5.3 Logging and Journaling File Systems
• 5.4 Read-only File Systems
• 5.5 Networking File Systems
• 5.6 Special File Systems
• 5.7 File System Recommendations

6. Technologies

• 6.1 RAID
• 6.2 Volume Management
• 6.3 Linux md Kernel Patch
• 6.4 Compression
• 6.5 ACL
• 6.6 cachefs
• 6.7 Translucent or Inheriting File Systems
• 6.8 Physical Track Positioning
• 6.9 Yoke
• 6.10 Stacking
• 6.11 Recommendations

7. Other Operating Systems

• 7.1 DOS
• 7.2 Windows
• 7.3 a>
• 7.4 NT
• 7.5 Windows 2000
• 7.6 Sun OS
• 7.7 BeOS

8. Clusters

9. Mount Points

10. Considerations and Dimensioning

• 10.1 Home Systems
• 10.2 Servers
• 10.3 Pitfalls

11. Disk Layout

• 11.1 Selection for Partitioning
• 11.2 Mapping Partitions to Drives
• 11.3 Sorting Partitions on Drives
• 11.4 Optimizing
• 11.5 Compromises

12. Implementation

• 12.1 Checklist
• 12.2 Drives and Partitions
• 12.3 Partitioning
• 12.4 Repartitioning
• 12.5 Microsoft Partition Bug
• 12.6 Multiple Devices ( md )
• 12.7 Formatting
• 12.8 Mounting
• 12.9 fstab
• 12.10 Mount options
• 12.11 Recommendations

13. Maintenance

• 13.1 Backup
• 13.2 Defragmentation
• 13.3 Deletions
• 13.4 Upgrades
• 13.5 Recovery
• 13.6 Rescue Disk

14. Advanced Issues

• 14.1 Hard Disk Tuning
• 14.2 File System Tuning
• 14.3 Spindle Synchronizing

15. Troubleshooting

• 15.1 During Installation
• 15.2 During Booting
• 15.3 During Running

16. Further Information

• 16.1 News groups
• 16.2 Mailing Lists
• 16.3 HOWTO
• 16.4 Mini-HOWTO
• 16.5 Local Resources
• 16.6 Web Pages
• 16.7 Search Engines

17. Getting Help

18. Concluding Remarks

• 18.1 Coming Soon
• 18.2 Request for Information
• 18.3 Suggested Project Work

19. Questions and Answers

20. Bits and Pieces

• 20.1 Swap Partition: to Use or Not to Use
• 20.2 Mount Point and /mnt
• 20.3 Power and Heating
• 20.4 Deja
• 20.5 Crash Recovery

21. Appendix A: Partitioning Layout Table: Mounting and Linking

22. Appendix B: Partitioning Layout Table: Numbering and Sizing

23. Appendix C: Partitioning Layout Table: Partition Placement

24. Appendix D: Example: Multipurpose Server

25. Appendix E: Example: Mounting and Linking

26. Appendix F: Example: Numbering and Sizing

27. Appendix G: Example: Partition Placement

28. Appendix H: Example II

29. Appendix I: Example III: SPARC Solaris

30. Appendix J: Example IV: Server with 4 Drives

31. Appendix K: Example V: Dual Drive System

32. Appendix L: Example VI: Single Drive System

33. Appendix M: Disk System Documenter

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