Partitioning and Formatting Units

After you create a unit, it needs to be formatted, partitioned, and mounted before it can be used.

To partition and format under Windows

Boot the system and log in as a system administrator.

Partition and format the new arrays or disks using the Administrative Tools from the Start menu:

Choose Computer Management from the Administrative Tools menu.

Select Storage.

Select Disk Management.

Follow the steps that appear on-screen to write a signature to the drive.

Right-click on the drive and select Create Volume.

Follow the steps that appear on-screen to create a volume and to assign a drive letter.

To partition and format under Linux

Boot the system and log in as root.

Open a terminal window.

Partition the unit:

fdisk /dev/sda

If the unit is over 2 TB, use:

parted /dev/sda (parted) mklabel New disk label type? gpt (parted) p Disk geometry for /dev/sda: 0kB - 1074GB Disk label type: gpt Number Start End Size File system Name Flags parted /dev/sda (parted) mkpart Partition type? [primary]? File system type? [ext2]? Start? 0 End? 1074gb (parted) p Disk geometry for /dev/sda: 0kB - 1074GB Disk label type: gpt Number Start End Size File system Name Flags1 17kB 1074MB 1074MB

Create or make the file system:

mkfs /dev/sda1 
 
Use of the -j option to turn on journaling is recommended for large partitions. 

 
For example:

mkfs -j /dev/sda 
 
If the partition is over 2TB, use parted to also make the file sytem:

parted /dev/sda  
(parted) mkfs 
Partition number? 1 
File system? [ext2]? 
writing per-group metadata (begins)...0% to 100% is 
displayed) 
(parted) quit (when completed)

To partition and format under FreeBSD