1.2 Partitioning Disks

The maximum size of a logical or physical device recognized by NetWare is 2 TB. If a hard disk or storage device is larger than 2 TB, use the device’s or third-party disk management software to carve the device into smaller logical devices so that NetWare can recognize and use the device. For detailed information about the device size limit and device types, see Understanding Devices in the OES 2 SP1: NSS File System Administration Guide.

The standard IBM* disk-partitioning scheme allows four physical partitions. To comply with the four-partition limit, NetWare creates logical partitions within physical NetWare partitions. The logical partitions in a NetWare partition combine to appear as a single partition on the master boot record of the device. The logical partitions appear as partition objects to users and can be managed as if they were physical partitions.

The entire NetWare partition is called the physical partition. Each NetWare partition contains a data area, where the file system resides. The logical sector 0 of a NetWare partition is the first sector of the data area available to file systems. This data area is referred to as a logical partition, as shown in the following figure.

Figure 1-1 DOS and NetWare Partitions

Both the NSS and NetWare Traditional file systems comply with the four-partition physical limit. Whenever you select free space on a device to create an NSS file system or a Traditional file system, the management tool automatically creates a logical partition, or segment, within a physical NetWare partition. Logical partition types include NSS partitions and Traditional partitions for your file systems and iSCSI partitions and SBD (Split Brain Detector) partitions for Novell Cluster Services™.

At least one disk on each server includes one DOS partition and at least one NetWare partition for the system (sys:) volume, as shown in the following figure. The DOS partition is the primary boot partition where the server.exe file is stored; you need only one boot partition per server. The system volume is where the NetWare operating system is installed. The NSS file system creates the sys: volume automatically when you install NetWare.

Figure 1-2 Partitioned Device

A hard disk can also contain other partitions such as a UNIX partition, as shown in the following figure. The sys: volume can reside on the same or different disk than the DOS partition.

Figure 1-3 Partitioned Devices for Heterogeneous Use

You can also leave free (unassigned) space on a disk, as shown in the following figure.

Figure 1-4 Partitioned Device with Free Space