NetNews Usenet Archive 1992 #27/NN_1992_27.iso/spool/comp/sys/sun/hardware/5833

Internet Message Format | 1992-11-22 | 1.9 KB

Path: sparky!uunet!portal!cup.portal.com!FelineGrace
From: [e-mail] (Dana B Bourgeois)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.sun.hardware
Subject: Partitions under SUN OS 4.1.2
Message-ID: <[e-mail]>
Date: Mon, 23 Nov 92 01:16:34 PST
Organization: The Portal System (TM)
Lines: 35

I have a question about hard drive partitions on SUN machines.  My own
machine is a 2 year old SPARC...the internal drive is only 207 Meg
SCSI.  On it are two partitions: 30 meg for root, 130 meg for /usr
and 48 meg for swap.  (i know this isn't 207 but I didn't set it up
and can't explain the discrepancy).

I also have mirrored 2.0 gig drives with 5 partitions: 30 meg /usr2
which is full of overflow from /usr, 130 meg /usr/export/home (for
user accounts), and three empty partitions of 100 meg each called
data1, data2, data3.

I am pretty sure (please confirm) that not all of the disk is currently
being used.  Seems I should be able to set up another 500-600 meg of
space.  But my real question is why do I need all these partitions in
the first place?  Can't I just set up swap and 1 partition on the
internal drive, and one really big partition on the mirrored external
drives?  If I can't, why not?  (and when is that limitation going to be
lifted?)  If I can, why shouldn't I?  Seems it would be much simpler
to not worry about crossing volume boundaries (except at the limits
of the physical devices).


I confess I am still learning UNIX so what may seem obvious to old hands
at UNIX file systems will be new, mysterious, and arcane to me.  Please
help me with this, I am thinking of re-partitioning and being half
done is not the time to run into a hard-coded limit somewhere.

Another question...does SUN 4.1.2 still have system tables of fixed
size or has that revision switched to linked lists of system structures?
If 4.1.2 is still tables, has Solaris 2.0 made the switch?

Thanks in advance.

Dana Bourgeois
[e-mail]