ch5.1 Storage - Partitions, Logical Volumes, and Mounting Systems Flashcards
/proc/mdstat file
file that stores RAID info and /md state (I believe md stands for multiple device)
block devices
devices like storage devices and can only be read or written to in blocks of data
FAT (file system)
File Allocation Table is an older file system that’s most often used to maintain compatibility between many different operating systems
Ext2 (file system)
a native Linux file system, generally regarded as ‘legacy’ but is still supported by current Linux releases
Ext3 (file system)
Linux native and much faster data recovery and better at ensuring data integrity in the event of a sudden system shutdown than Ext2
Ext4 (file system)
Linux native and supports very large file systems
XFS (file system)
a high-performance journaling file system, provides fast recovery, and can also handle large files efficiently
BTRFS (file system)
Linux native, modern, copy-on-write, fault tolerance, repair, and easy file administration
SMB protocol
Server Message Block allows users to share access to files and other resources over a LAN, and can also be used as a local file system
CIFS
Common Internet File System, a specific implementation of SMB rarely used today
but some Linux distros still use the name CIFS in some tools when referring to SMB
NFS
Network File System offers similar functionality to SMB, but are not compatible, and in an all Linux environment, NFS provides more functionality, but Windows does not support it by default
NTFS
inode (index node)
object that stores metadat about a file or directory on a given file system like when the file was created/modified and permission/ownership information
journaling (in file systems)
journaling records changes to files that have not yet been committed to the actual file and allows for fast file system recovery
generally recorded inside the inode
VFS
Virtual File System is a common software interface that sits between the kernel and the real file system, translating the real file system to the kernel and changes from the kernel back to the real file system
File System Labels
assigned to different file systems by a VFS for identification
ext based file system labels can be modified by the e2label Bash command and XFS based file system labels can be modified by the xfs_admin Bash command
Primary Partition
partition type that contains one file system or logical drive and is sometimes referred to as a volume
Swap File System
partition type that is used as logical RAM to free up physical RAM (but is located on the primary partition)
Extended Partition
partition type that contains several file systems, which are referred to as logical drives
does not actually store any files or data
Logical Partition
partition type that is allocated as an independent unit and functions as a separate drive
fdisk
utility and Bash command used to create, modify, or delete partitions on a storage drive
fdisk options
-b
-H
-S
-s
-l (lowercase L)
-b specify number of drive sectors
-H specify number of drive heads
-S specify number of sectors per track
-s print the partition size in blocks
-l (lowercase L) list partition tables for devices
fdisk internal options
n
d
p
w
q
n create new partitions
d remove (delete) partition
p list existing partitions
w write drive changes and exit
q cancel changes and exit
partprobe
Bash command to update the kernel with changes that now exist within the partition table
mkfs
-v
-V
Bash command to build a Linux file system on a device
-v verbose output & ongoing
-V verbose output but includes all file specific commands as executed
mkfs (more options)
-t
-fs
-c
-l (lowercase L)
-t specify type of file system to build
-fs pass file system specific options to the file system builder
-c check the device for bad blocks before building the file system
-l print the list of bad blocks from a specified file
mkfs syntax options
mkfs [options] [device name]
mkfs [file system type] [options] [device name]
/etc/fstab file
stores file information about storage devices and partitions and where/how they should be mounted
fstab file fields
device or partition name
default mount point
file system type
mount options
dump options (used for )
fsck options
/etc/crypttab file
stores information on encrypted devices and partitions that need to be unlocked at boot
stores similar fields to the /etc/fstab file with the addition of an optional password field
Storage Setup Process
- partition the storage device
- format the partition with a file system
- add formatted partition to fstab file
/dev
a special file that contains details about all the files and subdirectories housed within it