[CentOS] Installing/configuring a second HD

Drew
Wed, 27 Apr 2011 18:19:55 -0000

> My old server was Centos 4.8 and it is on a HD that is NOT
> connected. ?The new Centos 5.5 is the active HD. ?Everything
> appears to be working, so my intent is to jumper the old HD as a
> slave, wipe it clean and have it as a backup drive. ?Since my
> Linux skills are minimum, I thought it best to heck with the
> experts to find the best (safest) way to accomplish my goal.

It should be okay to do as you describe. If the disk is LVM based, see
my comments below. If it's not LVM based, the worst that could happen
is the system will see the partitions and try to mount them under /mnt
or some such. There's no worry that the system will mount the old
partitions over top your existing ones.

A quick fdisk to remove any old partitions, create new, and your off
and running.

> I assume that the old drive will auto-mount, however I am not
> sure if it will be identified as a separate due to the Volume
> system (I am not near my server at the moment and I cannot
> remember the exact name that is used for the HD configuration).
> I would notwant to format the drive and find out everything was
> formatted.

If the Volume system you refer to is LVM, then you shouldn't have any
issues with the drive auto-mounting. Been a while since I did this but
I believe you have to tell LVM about the volume group on that drive
before the logical volumes can be mounted.


--
Drew

"Nothing in life is to be feared. It is only to be understood."
--Marie Curie

"This started out as a hobby and spun horribly out of control."
-Unknown