Linux: Disk Storage Basics

Today we discuss some basics of storage management in Linux:

-to add disks to a system:
    . attach the disk to the system physically
    . fdisk -l to list the disks and identify the new one.
    . fdisk or parted to partition the new disk (or use it as a whole)
    . mkfs  -t to format the partitions and create filesystem
    . mount -t to mount the fs
-even in the case of disk failure, the hardware and firmware on the disk usually remain operable. only the platters corrupt.
-in other words it is still possible to access data.

-For traditional hard disk storage devices, sequential data transfer rates are higher than actual random read-write speeds.
-eg if a disk is rated at sequential transfer rate of 120MB/s, it is not the actual speed you get in reality.
-actually it is rare to get a read/write speed of 2MB/s.
-By contrast, solid state drives routinely produce random read write at 30MB/s or higher.
-Examples of storage hardware interfaces - ide/pata, sata, scsi, fiber channel, usb -- ide, sata and scsi are most common.
-traditionally scsi has been the earliest and yet the best performer. Now a days, sata is comparable.

Next up, file system basics...