How do I create large partitions in FreeBSD?

[Polytropon]

On Tue, 8 Dec 2009 13:14:05 -0600, Peter Steele <psteele at maxiscale.com> wrote:
> > In the subject line, you wrote "large partition", so I
> > assume you won't want to boot from from the device, but
> > use it as a big storage area instead. Correct me if I'm wrong.
> 
> For simplicity I didn't include all the details. In fact
> we need three slices, one for the OS, one for swap, and
> the rest for data.

Excuse me, you're mixing up terminology here. Let me explain:

A SLICE is what "Windows" calls a "DOS primary partition",
often just named a "partition".

A PARTITION is a subdivision of a slice. It holds a file
system. It is comparable (but not the same as) what "Windows"
calls a "logical volume inside a DOS extended partition".

To re-express your requirements:

You need one slice covering the whole disk. This slice
should contain three partitions: One for the OS, one for
swap, and one for data. What you will need to do is
basically what Maxim suggested, which is

a) use the "dedicated" approach, which means that you
   don't create a slice, just three partitions on the
   disk, or,

b) go with gpt / gpart, which is okay if FreeBSD will
   be the only OS that accesses the disk(s) in question,
   as I may assume by your statements.



> I can create the first two slices the way I normally do
> using fdisk/bsdlabel/newfs. But I'm stumped on how to
> create the large third slice.

I'm not sure if I understood you correctly. You won't need
to create three slices, just one slice, containin three
partitions.




-- 
Polytropon
Magdeburg, Germany
Happy FreeBSD user since 4.0
Andra moi ennepe, Mousa, ...