Partitioning, Formatting, and Mounting Units

After you create a unit, whether through 3BM or 3DM, it needs to be formatted, partitioned, and mounted by the operating system before it can be used.

The steps vary, depending on whether your operating system is Windows, Linux, or FreeBSD. For the appropriate steps, see:

To partition, format, and mount under Windows

To partition, format, and mount under Linux

To partition, format, and mount under FreeBSD

To partition, format, and mount under Windows

1	Boot the system and log in as a system administrator.

2	Partition and format the new arrays or disks using the Administrative Tools from the Start menu:

a	Choose Computer Management from the Administrative Tools menu.

b	Select Storage.

c	Select Disk Management.

4	Follow the steps that appear on-screen to write a signature to the drive.

5	Right-click on the drive and select Create Volume.

6	Follow the steps that appear on-screen to create a volume and to assign a drive letter.

The volume is automatically mounted after formatting completes.

To partition, format, and mount under Linux

1	Boot the system and log in as root.

2	Open a terminal window.

3	Partition the unit:

fdisk /dev/sda

If the unit is over 2 TB, use:

parted /dev/sda

(parted) mklabel

New disk label type? gpt

(parted) p

Disk geometry for /dev/sda: 0kB - 1074GB

Disk label type: gpt

Number Start End Size File system Name Flags

parted /dev/sda

(parted) mkpart

Partition type? [primary]?

File system type? [ext2]?

Start? 0

End? 1074gb

(parted) p

Disk geometry for /dev/sda: 0kB - 1074GB

Disk label type: gpt

Number Start End Size File system Name Flags1 17kB 1074MB 1074MB

4	Create or make the file system:

mkfs /dev/sda1

Use of the -j option to turn on journaling is recommended for large partitions.

For example:

mkfs -j /dev/sda1

If the partition is over 2TB, use parted to also make the file system:

writing per-group metadata (begins)...0% to 100% is displayed)

(parted) quit (when completed)

5	Mount the volume:

mount /dev/sda1 /mnt

To partition, format, and mount under FreeBSD

1	Boot the system and log in as root.

2	Open a terminal window.

3	Partition the unit:

fdisk -BI /dev/da0;

disklabel /dev/da0 | disklabel -B -R -r da0

4	Create or make the file system:

newfs /dev/da0c

5	Mount the volume:

mount /dev/da0c /mnt

You can also use sysinstall to format and partition the unit.

Related Topics: Creating a Unit