[Novalug] Device naming

[Walt Smith]

Alan,

Kernel developments can be tracked on kernel maillists
before new kernels are released.  This could be a way
to see if something in a kernel is something important
enough for you to not want when it's release happens.
That new kernel is then used in new distros.

One reason for distros like RHEL to exist is for those who 
want maximum OS (operating system) life and not have to 
relearn how to manage their box.  You may want to consider 
using a similar distro so you can get, say, 5 years continuum.....

IF you can compile, and have the *nix basics, you may be able to
stretch the application upgrades.  But serious occasional kernel
"architectural" changes make 5 years about the life limit for most apps, 
and, is much shorter for many others.

Here's food for thought: It won't be much longer before we'll all
be configuring for IP-V6.  Just think of the fun there !!
And the new DNSSEC  !!   and the..... ( fill in blank ) ...

regards,
Walt........







Re: [Novalug] Device naming
Thursday, March 11, 2010 8:26 PM
From:
"Alan Grimes" <agrimes at speakeasy.net>
To:
"Northern Virginia Linux User's Group" <novalug at calypso.tux.org>
Walt Smith wrote:
> Peter and Bryan,

> 1.  how are drives represented ( and identified ) in fstab ?

Close.

The question was "how can I reliably write my fstab so that it will work
today and for many years into the future?"

> 2.  how do I make used of UUID in /dev/disk?

Yeah, if neccessary. I don't like the solution because I can't memorize
it and type it in as needed. One use case is how would I use cfdisk if I
didn't know exactly how to address the drive I want to edit and had a
convenient way to type in the name.

> 3.  why is the device ID of the boot drive not the same as data drive?

That's reasonable because they're two different drives. My issue is with
the naming scheme. -- the new scheme is not usable.

> 4.  Why does my data drive have 2 entries.

Actually, looking at it now, I see it has three entries:

ata-WDC_WD3200AAKS-00B3A0_WD-WCAT11129455 -> ../../sda
scsi-SATA_WDC_WD3200AAKS-_WD-WCAT11129455 -> ../../sda
wwn-0x50014ee1565cf8be -> ../../sda

Bleh... The third makes no sense at all.

> I might point out that Torvalds at one point put the quash on
> naming new devices which trying to work out a system.  I believe
> that hot plugins were a separate issue for a time and then consolidated
> with the "new" fs.   Timing wise, Alan still thinks the system is
> relatively new ( and I know exactly how he feels! ). Did it happen
> sometime around/before the 2.4 kernel.  Maybe someone could place a
> date/version on it ?

Superlative question! =)

I want to know excatly who, when, and why this decision was made.
Previous answers addressed the why question but failed on the grounds of
being logically inconsitient and failing to address critically important
issues raised my my earlier post.


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