Apple Xserve Up Mac OS X Server Specifications download pdf (Page 85)

7 Working with Disks and Volumes

Use this chapter to learn the commands to initialize and test

disks and volumes.

This chapter covers the commands used to manage, configure, initialize, and test disks

and volumes.

Understanding Disks, Partitions, and the File System

Like UNIX, Mac OS X uses special files called device files, located in /dev, to keep track

of the devices (disks, keyboards, monitors, network connections, and so on) attached to

the computer.

Device files for a disk are named /dev/diskn, where n is the number of the disk.

For example, a computer with one drive would have a device file called /dev/disk0.

If the computer has a second drive, the computer creates a second device file called

/dev/disk1, and so on.

Each drive that is divided into multiple partitions has a device file for each partition.

The first partition on disk 0 is called /dev/disk0s1, the second partition is /dev/disk0s2,

and so on.

Although Mac OS X Server assigns a device name to each device, the files on a device

are not accessed in this way. A virtual file system is created where all files on all devices

appear to exist in a single hierarchy. This sets one root folder, and every file existing on

the computer is under that folder. This is known as the Hierarchical File System (HFS+).

The root folder can exist anywhere on a network as a shared resource.

Mounting and Unmounting Volumes

To gain access to files on a different device, you must first mount the device.

This process informs the operating system where in the folder tree you want those files

to appear. The folder identified to the operating system is the mount point. Different

volumes on a computer can have different file systems.

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Apple Xserve Up Mac OS X Server Specifications Page 85