[Discuss] Multiple HDD setup in Linux

[R. Langkamer]

On 5/6/08 1:51 PM, Brian Burger wrote:

> Last time I had to deal with multiple drives in one machine was
> several years ago when I still ran XP; I've managed nicely with just
> one partitioned harddrive in Linux until recently.
> 
> As a result, I haven't a damn clue where to even start setting up  a
> multi-drive system in *nix... my old Windows habits come forward and I
> find myself thinking of D & E drives again...
> 
> Here's the setup:
> Ubuntu 8.04
> 1 120GB HDD (a few years old, still solid, but stuffed to the brim with files)
> 1 500GB HDD (new, not installed yet)
> ext3 across the board for formatting
> 
> Currently I've got / as sda1, /home as sda2, no swap, no boot.
> 
> I'd like to use the 500GB as the main drive, with /boot, /, /swap &
> the first part of /home on there, then use the entire 120GB as an
> extension of /home - ideally, set up so it's all seamless from the
> desktop end. I'm pretty sure I can set this up in LVM, but I'd
> appreciate pointers or links to current, usable tutorials & resources
> before I dive in!
> 
> For bonus points, I'd like to install & partition the 500GB, leaving
> my data intact on the 120, then later copy my /home over to the new
> 500GB, then extend /home across into the entirety of the 120GB.
> 
> I think 'dd' can handle the file movement side of this while keeping
> the permissions & such intact, and LVM looks flexible enough to handle
> the multi-stage re-deploying of partitions I'm thinking of above, but
> anyone with actual experience doing this sort of thing, please advise!
> 
> (I'm going to fill a couple of DVDs with backups of stuff I really
> can't afford to loose, but hopefully the whole operation will go
> smoothly and I'll be able to destroy the backup DVDs unused...)
> 
> I'll probably do a clean install of Ubuntu into the new partitions;
> there's a number of issues I"m having with my much-upgraded Ubuntu
> install that'll hopefully just go away with a clean install and lots
> more space to use...
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> Brian


	I'm unable to give details right now (I should be doing "work" instead 
of list lurking), but suffice to say, this is doable and as is the way 
in Linux land, there are many ways to accomplish this (off the top of my 
head, you can either use LVM or not, I am sure there are a few other 
ways as well though).
	Personally, I just put it all on one drive and if I had your drive 
configuration, I would use the 120GB as the main and the 500GB as the 
backup drive.

-- 

Sincerely,

R. Langkamer

cross platform specialist
Mac - Linux - windows

Langkamer I.T.
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