Creating Linux Partitions for CLARiiON
Creating a properly offset slab of disk for Linux systems on your CLARiiON is not just a matter of creating a partition using the default fdisk values. The reason for this is that disk management utilities for Intel based systems generally write 63 sectors of metadata directly at the beginning of the LUN. The addressable space begins immediately after these initial sectors causing the CLARiiON to cross disks, especially when writing larger IO because it doesn’t match up with the stripe element size (usually 64k).
To get around this, you have to align the partition in such a way that it will start writing data on a sector that will mesh up nicely with the stripe element size. In this case, 128. Below is an example of how I create partitions on our CLARiiON for Linux systems. Check out the EMC Best Practices for Fibre Chanel storage white paper for more detail.
/sbin/fdisk /dev/emcpowera Device contains neither a valid DOS partition table, nor Sun, SGI or OSF disklabel Building a new DOS disklabel. Changes will remain in memory only, until you decide to write them. After that, of course, the previous content won't be recoverable. The number of cylinders for this disk is set to 39162. There is nothing wrong with that, but this is larger than 1024, and could in certain setups cause problems with: 1) software that runs at boot time (e.g., old versions of LILO) 2) booting and partitioning software from other OSs (e.g., DOS FDISK, OS/2 FDISK) Warning: invalid flag 0x0000 of partition table 4 will be corrected by w(rite) Command (m for help): n Command action e extended p primary partition (1-4) p Partition number (1-4): 1 First cylinder (1-39162, default 1): Using default value 1 Last cylinder or +size or +sizeM or +sizeK (1-39162, default 39162): Using default value 39162 Command (m for help): x Expert command (m for help): b Partition number (1-4): 1 New beginning of data (63-629137529, default 63): 128 Expert command (m for help): w The partition table has been altered! Calling ioctl() to re-read partition table. Syncing disks.
Using My New Mac Mini
My new Mac Mini came in yesterday and I just got it all up and running. I had some misgivings about allowing the system to transfer over all my applications and information from the old system, but I went ahead and did it anyhow simply because I seriously doubted I could find all the CD’s for my software. For the most part, the process went smoothly, although I had to do a little cleanup afterwards because a few applications did not work after the migration.
I was also a bit concerned about what kind of performance I would get out of the new Intel processor because many of my applications are older and were compiled on the old PPC chips. This has turned out to be a total non-issue! I got the new Mini fully loaded with a 1.83Ghz Intel Core Duo processor, 2 Gigs of RAM, and a 160 Gig SATA drive, so even the older applications that require the carbon libraries scream right along.
While I would have obviously liked to get the Mac Pro, I am very much enjoying using my new Mini, and feel that I can recommend it fully.
Sun Talks Some Smack
We all know that Sun is MUCH cooler than Dell, but the company is finally coming out and saying it in no uncertain terms. Apparently They have tried to get these advertisements into several major industry publications, but have been censored at every attempt because someone may find the material offensive.
Yeah… Sure… Much more likely, the editors of these publications are just afraid of loosing Dell as a client. I, for one, think the ads are pretty funny, and I’m glad to see Sun taking on Dell, because I truly feel they have a better product.
Sun says:
Sun Censored but Not Silent
Top business publications refused to run our bold ad concepts because the headlines were thought too controversial. At Sun, we’re the radical engineers that build “ass-whoopin” technology - we’re not Miss Manners and we never want to be. We ask all you contrarians out there to e-mail us your own provocative ad headlines: my-headline@sun.com. See the remarkable benchmarks for the new Sun Fire tm X2100, X4100, and X4200 64 bit X86 servers and you’ll understand why we have license to brag.
They’re not quite as cool as “Benchmark Studies Prove That Dell Sucks” or “100% More Bitchin’ Than Dell”, but Sun is currently running some fairly edgy ads that are along the same lines. I just wish I could pick up “SysAdmin” and find the ads below in them.
Click on the small images below to take you to the larger versions.
