Novell LINUX ENTERPRISE SERVER 11 - DEPLOYMENT Deployment Manual page 241

Server, free the needed space starting from the bottom toward the top of the list (starting
from the last partition of a hard disk toward the first). For example, if you have three
partitions, you cannot use the second exclusively for SUSE Linux Enterprise Server
and retain the third and first for other operating systems.
15.1.1 Partition Types
TIP: IBM System z: Hard Disks
On the IBM System z platforms, SUSE Linux Enterprise Server supports SCSI
hard disks as well as DASDs (direct access storage devices). While SCSI disks
can be partitioned as described below, DASDs can have no more than three
partition entries in their partition tables.
Every hard disk has a partition table with space for four entries. Every entry in the
partition table corresponds to a primary partition or an extended partition. Only one
extended partition entry is allowed, however.
A primary partition simply consists of a continuous range of cylinders (physical disk
areas) assigned to a particular operating system. With primary partitions only, you
would be limited to four partitions per hard disk, because more do not fit in the partition
table. This is why extended partitions are used. Extended partitions are also continuous
ranges of disk cylinders, but an extended partition may be subdivided into logical par-
titions itself. Logical partitions do not require entries in the partition table. In other
words, an extended partition is a container for logical partitions.
If you need more than four partitions, create an extended partition as the fourth partition
or earlier. This extended partition should span the entire remaining free cylinder range.
Then create multiple logical partitions within the extended partition. The maximum
number of logical partitions is 15 on SCSI, SATA, and Firewire disks and 63 on (E)IDE
disks. It does not matter which types of partitions are used for Linux. Primary and log-
ical partitions both work fine.
TIP: Hard Disks with a GPT Disk Label
For architectures using the GPT disk label, the number of primary partitions is
not restricted. Consequently, there are no logical partitions.
Advanced Disk Setup 229