Lvm Configuration - Novell LINUX ENTERPRISE DESKTOP 11 - DEPLOYMENT GUIDE 17-03-2009 Deployment Manual

12.2 LVM Configuration

This section briefly describes the principles behind the Logical Volume Manager (LVM)
and its basic features that make it useful under many circumstances. In
"LVM Configuration with YaST"
WARNING
Using LVM might be associated with increased risk, such as data loss. Risks also
include application crashes, power failures, and faulty commands. Save your
data before implementing LVM or reconfiguring volumes. Never work without
a backup.
12.2.1 The Logical Volume Manager
The LVM enables flexible distribution of hard disk space over several file systems. It
was developed because sometimes the need to change the segmentation of hard disk
space arises only after the initial partitioning during installation has already been done.
Because it is difficult to modify partitions on a running system, LVM provides a virtual
pool (volume group, VG for short) of memory space from which logical volumes (LVs)
can be created as needed. The operating system accesses these LVs instead of the
physical partitions. Volume groups can span more than only one disk so that several
disks or parts of them may constitute one single VG. This way, LVM provides a kind
of abstraction from the physical disk space that allows its segmentation to be changed
in a much easier and safer way than physical repartitioning does. Background information
regarding physical partitioning can be found in
(page 157) and Section 12.1, "Using the YaST Partitioner"
(page 165), learn how to set up LVM with YaST.
Section 12.1.1, "Partition Types"
Section 12.2.2,
(page 155).
Advanced Disk Setup 163