Find Out Current Disk Size
Type the following command:
# fdisk -l /dev/sdb
Sample outputs:
Disk /dev/sdb: 3000.6 GB, 3000592982016 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 364801 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x00000000
Disk /dev/sdb doesn't contain a valid partition table
Linux Create 3TB partition size
To create a partition start GNU parted as follows:
# parted /dev/sdb
Output:
GNU Parted 2.3
Using /dev/sdb
Welcome to GNU Parted! Type 'help' to view a list of commands.
(parted)
Creates a new GPT disklabel i.e. partition table:
(parted) mklabel gpt
Sample outputs:
Warning: The existing disk label on /dev/sdb will be destroyed and all data on this disk will be lost. Do you want to continue?
Yes/No? yes
(parted)
Next, set the default unit to TB, enter:
(parted) unit TB
To create a 3TB partition size, enter:
(parted) mkpart primary 0 0
OR
(parted) mkpart primary 0.00TB 3.00TB
To print the current partitions, enter:
(parted) print
Sample outputs:
Model: ATA ST33000651AS (scsi)
Disk /dev/sdb: 3.00TB
Sector size (logical/physical): 512B/512B
Partition Table: gpt
Number Start End Size File system Name Flags
1 0.00TB 3.00TB 3.00TB ext4 primary
Quit and save the changes, enter:
(parted) quit
Sample outputs:
Information: You may need to update /etc/fstab.
Use the mkfs.ext3 or mkfs.ext4 command to format the file system, enter:
# mkfs.ext3 /dev/sdb1
OR
# mkfs.ext4 /dev/sdb1
Sample outputs:
mkfs.ext4 /dev/sdb1
mke2fs 1.41.12 (17-May-2010)
Filesystem label=
OS type: Linux
Block size=4096 (log=2)
Fragment size=4096 (log=2)
Stride=0 blocks, Stripe width=0 blocks
183148544 inodes, 732566272 blocks
36628313 blocks (5.00%) reserved for the super user
First data block=0
Maximum filesystem blocks=4294967296
22357 block groups
32768 blocks per group, 32768 fragments per group
8192 inodes per group
Superblock backups stored on blocks:
32768, 98304, 163840, 229376, 294912, 819200, 884736, 1605632, 2654208,
4096000, 7962624, 11239424, 20480000, 23887872, 71663616, 78675968,
102400000, 214990848, 512000000, 550731776, 644972544
Writing inode tables: done
Creating journal (32768 blocks): done
Writing superblocks and filesystem accounting information: done
This filesystem will be automatically checked every 31 mounts or
180 days, whichever comes first. Use tune2fs -c or -i to override.
Type the following commands to mount /dev/sdb1, enter:
# mkdir /data
# mount /dev/sdb1 /data
# df -H
Sample outputs:
Filesystem Size Used Avail Use% Mounted on
/dev/sdc1 16G 819M 14G 6% /
tmpfs 1.6G 0 1.6G 0% /lib/init/rw
udev 1.6G 123k 1.6G 1% /dev
tmpfs 1.6G 0 1.6G 0% /dev/shm
/dev/sdb1 3.0T 211M 2.9T 1% /data
Format Using gdisk
The gdisk is an GPT alternative to fdisk command. The syntax is same as fdisk command. For example:
$ sudo fdisk /dev/sdb
OR
$ sudo gdisk /dev/sdb
Sample outputs:
GPT fdisk (gdisk) version 1.0.1
Partition table scan:
MBR: not present
BSD: not present
APM: not present
GPT: not present
Creating new GPT entries.
Command (? for help):
Type n to create a new partition:
Command (? for help): n
Partition number (1-128, default 1): 1
First sector (34-XXXXXXX, default = 2048) or {+-}size{KMGTP}:
Last sector (2048-XXXXXXX, default = XXXXXXX) or {+-}size{KMGTP}:
Current type is 'Linux filesystem'
Hex code or GUID (L to show codes, Enter = 8300)
Press w to write new table to disk and exit to the shell prompt:
Command (? for help): w
Final checks complete. About to write GPT data. THIS WILL OVERWRITE EXISTING
PARTITIONS!!
Do you want to proceed? (Y/N): y
OK; writing new GUID partition table (GPT) to hdd.img.
Warning: The kernel is still using the old partition table.
The new table will be used at the next reboot or after you
run partprobe(8) or kpartx(8)
The operation has completed successfully.
Now you can format /dev/sdb1 and mount it as usual.
