Re: dangerously dedicated physical disks.
Thank you very much about your efforts to explain me in detailed the 'dangerous dedicated' term. Regards, atar. And as a complete newb trying to wrestle with some of the concepts here, may I add my thanks here for clarifying yet another well-understood matter which leaves us floundering. Thanks again to all who have diffused some of the mystique which surrounds BSD from time to time. ++ Graham Todd signature.asc Description: PGP signature
Re: dangerously dedicated physical disks.
On Sun, 22 Sep 2013 08:25:24 -0600 (MDT), Warren Block wrote: It's dangerous because that partitioning format is rare outside of BSD-based systems. Disk utilities may not recognize it, and could damage it. I think this is a good characterization of the term currently used. In historical context this layout would deserve the name traditional, as non-PC BSD installations did not _require_ a MBR enclosing to be present - this is a concept introduced by the PC world. Most PCs still work with dedicated perfectly well if desired (even though there is no real reason to use that layout approach). I try to avoid the part dangerously because the danger is only significant in non-BSD land, like some obscure systems that could try to repair something and cause data loss, which is well known and feared... :-) Most of the rest of the world used MBR partitioning, which allowed up to four MBR partitions (called slices by FreeBSD) per disk. Those are, precisely called DOS primary partitions (in difference to DOS extended partitions which somehow behave like slices in BSD terminology). :-) Yes, one partition format inside another. It only seems complicated because it is. Which makes it useful and flexible. :-) With GPT, there is no reason to use BSD disklabels at all. And most modern computers do not have any problem booting it. The old MBR approach (as well as dedicated) will probably only be needed in niche applications and exceptions. You can have all the advantages of being easy stuff known from dedicated layout by using the GPT tools, plus you gain more compatibility if this matters. -- Polytropon Magdeburg, Germany Happy FreeBSD user since 4.0 Andra moi ennepe, Mousa, ... ___ freebsd-questions@freebsd.org mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions To unsubscribe, send any mail to freebsd-questions-unsubscr...@freebsd.org
Re: dangerously dedicated physical disks.
On Mon, Sep 23, 2013 at 6:25 AM, Polytropon free...@edvax.de wrote: With GPT, there is no reason to use BSD disklabels at all. And most modern computers do not have any problem booting it. The old MBR approach (as well as dedicated) will probably only be needed in niche applications and exceptions. You can have all the advantages of being easy stuff known from dedicated layout by using the GPT tools, plus you gain more compatibility if this matters. Not entirely. Due to GEOM specs, if you create a GELI encrypted container, you cannot use GPT partitioning inside that container. You must use BSD. This is an edge case, and I've submitted a bug about it a while ago, but like I just said, this is apparently a feature not a bug. ___ freebsd-questions@freebsd.org mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions To unsubscribe, send any mail to freebsd-questions-unsubscr...@freebsd.org
Re: dangerously dedicated physical disks.
On Mon, 23 Sep 2013, Robert Simmons wrote: On Mon, Sep 23, 2013 at 6:25 AM, Polytropon free...@edvax.de wrote: With GPT, there is no reason to use BSD disklabels at all. And most modern computers do not have any problem booting it. The old MBR approach (as well as dedicated) will probably only be needed in niche applications and exceptions. You can have all the advantages of being easy stuff known from dedicated layout by using the GPT tools, plus you gain more compatibility if this matters. Not entirely. Due to GEOM specs, if you create a GELI encrypted container, you cannot use GPT partitioning inside that container. You must use BSD. This is an edge case, and I've submitted a bug about it a while ago, but like I just said, this is apparently a feature not a bug. It's not GEOM, it's just GPT. By specification, the backup partition table has to be at the end of the disk. That interferes with anything else that wants to put metadata there, like GELI or gmirror. ___ freebsd-questions@freebsd.org mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions To unsubscribe, send any mail to freebsd-questions-unsubscr...@freebsd.org
dangerously dedicated physical disks.
Hi there!! During the reading of the FreeBSD handbook, I've encountered at the term 'dangerously dedicated' regarding physical disks and the author of this chapter in the FreeBSD handbook didn't think this term need more clarity. so for newbies like me in the FreeBSD world I want to ask: what's the 'dangerously dedicated' term meaning by? Thanks in advance! atar. ___ freebsd-questions@freebsd.org mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions To unsubscribe, send any mail to freebsd-questions-unsubscr...@freebsd.org
Re: dangerously dedicated physical disks.
On Sun, 22 Sep 2013 16:16:17 - atar atar.yo...@gmail.com wrote: Hi there!! During the reading of the FreeBSD handbook, I've encountered at the term 'dangerously dedicated' regarding physical disks and the author of this chapter in the FreeBSD handbook didn't think this term need more clarity. so for newbies like me in the FreeBSD world I want to ask: what's the 'dangerously dedicated' term meaning by? Thanks in advance! atar. ___ freebsd-questions@freebsd.org mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions To unsubscribe, send any mail to freebsd-questions-unsubscr...@freebsd.org Information is at this (very old) link. Not as scary as it sounds. http://docs.freebsd.org/doc/2.2.6-RELEASE/usr/share/doc/FAQ/FAQ103.html ___ freebsd-questions@freebsd.org mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions To unsubscribe, send any mail to freebsd-questions-unsubscr...@freebsd.org
Re: dangerously dedicated physical disks.
Thanks. it helps a little to clarify this term. ___ freebsd-questions@freebsd.org mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions To unsubscribe, send any mail to freebsd-questions-unsubscr...@freebsd.org
Re: dangerously dedicated physical disks.
On Sun, 22 Sep 2013, atar wrote: During the reading of the FreeBSD handbook, I've encountered at the term 'dangerously dedicated' regarding physical disks and the author of this chapter in the FreeBSD handbook didn't think this term need more clarity. so for newbies like me in the FreeBSD world I want to ask: what's the 'dangerously dedicated' term meaning by? The term refers to a disk partitioned with only the BSD disklabel partition table: disk ada0 partition a (ada0a, /) partition b (ada0b, swap) partition d (ada0d, /var) partition e (ada0e, /tmp) partition f (ada0f, /usr) It's dangerous because that partitioning format is rare outside of BSD-based systems. Disk utilities may not recognize it, and could damage it. Most of the rest of the world used MBR partitioning, which allowed up to four MBR partitions (called slices by FreeBSD) per disk. Since four slices is not enough for the standard FreeBSD disk layout, with /, swap, /var, /tmp, and /usr, the standard procedure is to use MBR partitioning, with the MBR partitions (slices) being sub-partitioned by a BSD disklabel. disk ada0 MBR slice 1 (ada0s1) partition a (ada0s1a, /) partition b (ada0s1b, swap) partition d (ada0s1d, /var) partition e (ada0s1e, /tmp) partition f (ada0s1f, /usr) MBR slice 2 (ada0s2) ... Yes, one partition format inside another. It only seems complicated because it is. GPT is the new partitioning format, which makes things much simpler by being capable of up to 128 partitions in the standard configuration. With GPT, there is no reason to use BSD disklabels at all. disk ada0 GPT partition 1 (ada0p1, bootcode) GPT partition 2 (ada0p2, /) GPT partition 3 (ada0p3, swap) GPT partition 4 (ada0p4, /var) GPT partition 5 (ada0p5, /tmp) GPT partition 6 (ada0p6, /usr) Summary: Dangerously dedicated partitioning has no unique advantages. Use GPT when possible, use MBR/disklabel when necessary. ___ freebsd-questions@freebsd.org mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions To unsubscribe, send any mail to freebsd-questions-unsubscr...@freebsd.org
Re: dangerously dedicated physical disks.
Thank you very much about your efforts to explain me in detailed the 'dangerous dedicated' term. Regards, atar. Warren Block wbl...@wonkity.com wrote: On Sun, 22 Sep 2013, atar wrote: During the reading of the FreeBSD handbook, I've encountered at the term 'dangerously dedicated' regarding physical disks and the author of this chapter in the FreeBSD handbook didn't think this term need more clarity. so for newbies like me in the FreeBSD world I want to ask: what's the 'dangerously dedicated' term meaning by? The term refers to a disk partitioned with only the BSD disklabel partition table: disk ada0 partition a (ada0a, /) partition b (ada0b, swap) partition d (ada0d, /var) partition e (ada0e, /tmp) partition f (ada0f, /usr) It's dangerous because that partitioning format is rare outside of BSD-based systems. Disk utilities may not recognize it, and could damage it. Most of the rest of the world used MBR partitioning, which allowed up to four MBR partitions (called slices by FreeBSD) per disk. Since four slices is not enough for the standard FreeBSD disk layout, with /, swap, /var, /tmp, and /usr, the standard procedure is to use MBR partitioning, with the MBR partitions (slices) being sub-partitioned by a BSD disklabel. disk ada0 MBR slice 1 (ada0s1) partition a (ada0s1a, /) partition b (ada0s1b, swap) partition d (ada0s1d, /var) partition e (ada0s1e, /tmp) partition f (ada0s1f, /usr) MBR slice 2 (ada0s2) ... Yes, one partition format inside another. It only seems complicated because it is. GPT is the new partitioning format, which makes things much simpler by being capable of up to 128 partitions in the standard configuration. With GPT, there is no reason to use BSD disklabels at all. disk ada0 GPT partition 1 (ada0p1, bootcode) GPT partition 2 (ada0p2, /) GPT partition 3 (ada0p3, swap) GPT partition 4 (ada0p4, /var) GPT partition 5 (ada0p5, /tmp) GPT partition 6 (ada0p6, /usr) Summary: Dangerously dedicated partitioning has no unique advantages. Use GPT when possible, use MBR/disklabel when necessary. ___ freebsd-questions@freebsd.org mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions To unsubscribe, send any mail to freebsd-questions-unsubscr...@freebsd.org
