A partition is a logical division of a physical hard drive. When you create NSS pools or NSS software RAID devices, NSS automatically creates the NSS partitions on the devices you specify. You can view and label these NSS partitions from the Partitions page.
Partitions are automatically managed by NSS whenever you create pools. You do not manage NSS partitions directly.
You can use Unified Management Console, NSSMU, NLVM, or iManager to manage devices and partitions.
The following table describes the variety of partition types for an OES system:
The Partitions function in iManager and NSSMU is intended simply as a reporting tool so that you can see the types of partitions that are being virtualized by higher-level storage entities such as pools or software RAID devices. Generally, you cannot create or modify partitions with iManager or NSSMU tools. NSS partitions are created for you automatically when you create a pool. There might be multiple NSS partitions that are aggregated and managed underneath the single pool of space. Similarly, the tools automatically create a Virtual Device when you create a software RAID device.
Table 13-1 Explanation of Partition Types
|
Partition Type |
Description |
|---|---|
|
Cluster Service |
A partition used to monitor cluster connectivity and services; it appears only in shared devices in the cluster. |
|
DOS |
A conventional DOS partition. |
|
GPT |
GUID Partition Table (GPT) scheme. |
|
Ext3 |
The partition type for Linux Extended File System 3. |
|
iSCSI |
A partition in a target disk server in an iSCSI storage area network; it appears as an iSCSI device to file servers with iSCSI initiator software. |
|
NSS |
The primary partition type for NSS file systems. |
|
Reiser |
The partition type for Linux Reiser file systems. |
|
System Configuration |
A vendor-specific partition for maintaining metadata about the server configuration. |
|
Unknown |
An partition type that is unknown to the current operating system. |
|
Virtual Device |
A partition that serves as a partition in a software RAID 0 or RAID 5 device. |
You can view the following information about partitions:
Table 13-2 Explanation of Partition Details
|
Partition Detail |
Description |
|---|---|
|
Partition ID |
The partition name assigned by the device manager. |
|
Partition Name |
The physical descriptive name of the partition that corresponds to the device’s physical descriptive name, followed by the type of partition it is. |
|
Type |
The abbreviated name of the partition type. |
|
Status |
Specifies if a partition is In Use or Available. |
|
Label |
The partition name assigned by the administrator. |
|
Starting Offset |
Amount of space on the disk that precedes the beginning of the selected partition. |
|
Size |
The storage capacity of this partition. |
|
Device Name |
The physical descriptive name of the device where the partition exists. For software RAIDs, the description might include RAID 0, RAID 1, or RAID 5. |
|
Device ID |
The device name assigned by the device manager. |
|
Pool Name |
For NSS partitions, specifies the name of the pool that uses the partition. |