Re: 2 partitions - same dir?
Hi,
There are several approaches to your problem. It is indeed possible to
make one *filesystem* span two partitions, by making the two partitions
into what's called a "linear" or "append" multiple device, but this is not the
simplest solution, and in my opinion it offers little in return for the
effort of setting it up. Briefly, this would entail recompiling the
kernel with the option Block Devices -> Multiple Devices Support -> Linear
(append) mode enabled. If you're using a 2.2 kernel, it could be a good
idea to install the patch for new-style RAID before doing this, but you
should be OK with using the standard kernel source. Then you'd have to
back up all the data in the existing partition, make a multiple device out
of this and the new partition, make an ext2 filesystem on the multiple
device, mount the filesystem, and restore your data into the new
filesystem. And then you would be running the risk of having your
filesystem trashed if *either* partition goes bad. Hardly worth it, in my
humble opinion.
Instead, the simplest and safest solution for distributing a *directory*
over two partitions is: split up the subdirectories of the directory
between the two partitions, by making mount points under the directory.
For example, if this is your personal machine and you're the only user,
make an ext2 filesystem in the new partition, make a mount point under
your home directory, and just mount the new filesystem there. Move (copy
first; then check; then delete) all your biggest subdirectories into it to
free up the existing space in your home directory. Make the appropriate
entry in /etc/fstab so that it's mounted at boot time and you're set.
All files you save in subdirectories of the mount point will be in the new
partition, all others in the old one, and they'll all be under your home
directory.
If this is a multi-user machine, work similarly with a new mount point
under /home. Keep some users' home directories in /home and some in
/home/newmountpoint; these latter users will need the entries for their
home directories changed in /etc/passwd, to add the new level. If you
want all home directories to be at the same level, unmount /home, make
two mount points under /home for the two filesystems, and mount each
partition on one. Entries for user home directories in /etc/passwd will
then have to be changed for all users.
Best regards,
George Karaolides 8, Costakis Pantelides St.,
tel: +35 79 68 08 86 Strovolos,
email: george@karaolides.com Nicosia CY 2057,
web: www.karaolides.com Republic of Cyprus
On Mon, 5 Nov 2001, Rory O'Connor wrote:
> I've got a drive that's completely full of files, mounted at /home/dir.
> I added a second drive so I could continue storing files of the same
> type, and mounted it at /home/dir2.
>
> Is there a way to make it so that it appears these files are all in one
> dir? I don't think it's possible to mount two partitions at the same
> point...but perhaps with dynamic links?
>
> thanks,
>
> rory
>
>
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