This section describes features in Oracle Solaris for managing disks on your system.
You can install and boot Oracle Solaris from a disk that is up to 2 TB in size. This support applies to the following systems:
SPARC platforms with an updated OBP. Note that the SPARC boot loader remains unchanged.
x86 platforms that use GRUB 2 as the default system boot loader.
On both system types, the 2-terabyte disk must be connected to a system with a minimum of 1.5 GB of memory.
With EFI (GPT) partitioning, all of the disk space on the boot device can be used for Oracle Solaris installations.
For more information, see Chapter 2, Administering the GRand Unified Bootloader in Booting and Shutting Down Oracle Solaris 11.4 Systems.
Disk management utilities now accommodate this feature. For example, the fdisk utility can support partitions of up to 2 TB. However, limits might be imposed on other non-EFI partitions. A warning will appear If you attempt to run the utility on a disk that is larger than 2 TB.
The Oracle Solaris installation program can install an EFI (GPT) disk label on a ZFS root pool disk or disks by using the DVD, USB, and automated installation methods. UEFI firmware support and the introduction of GRUB 2 provide the ability to boot from a GPT labeled disk. You can therefore use whole disks for a ZFS root pool disk or disks on the following platforms:
SPARC based systems with GPT enabled firmware
Most x86 based systems, which are UEFI compliant
Note the following information about root pool disks:
On SPARC based systems, the root file system is contained in slice 0. On x86 based systems, the root file system is contained in partition 1.
The zpool command can support EFI (GPT) labels.
To re-create a root pool or create an alternate root pool, use the zpool create –B command. The command option creates the required slices and information for booting.
If you use the zpool replace command to replace a disk in a root pool that has an EFI (GPT) labeled disk, you must also reinstall the boot loader.
Oracle Solaris can support advanced format (AF) disks, which are hard disk drives that exceed the traditional 512-byte block size.
AF disks are generally in the 4 KB block size range, but vary as follows:
A 4 KB native disk (4kn) has a physical and logical block size of 4 KB
A 512-byte emulation (512e) has a physical block size of 4 KB but reports a logical block size of 512 bytes
Oracle Solaris also supports the 512-byte native (512n) disk, which is a traditional disk with 512-byte block size.
You can create a ZFS file system or a PCFS file system on a 4kn disk. You can also boot a ZFS file system on a 4kn disk that is labeled with EFI (GPT) on both SPARC-based and x86-based systems.
Before purchasing advanced format drives, confirm with your device manufacturer that their 512e devices have a power-safe feature. This feature prevents data loss after a power failure while data is still in transit.
To determine whether your system has AFD-supported disks, use the devprop command.
# devprop -n device-path
The following examples show the command output for different disk types.
For a 4 Kb native disk:
# devprop -n /dev/rdsk/c0t0d0s0 device-blksize device-pblksize 4096 4096
For a 512n disk:
# devprop -n /dev/rdsk/c1t0d0s0 device-blksize device-pblksize 512 512
For a 512e disk:
# devprop -n /dev/rdsk/c2t0d0s0 device-blksize device-pblksize 512 4096
Oracle Solaris provides support for the Internet Storage Name Service (iSNS) protocol in the Oracle Solaris iSCSI target and initiator software. The iSNS protocol enables automated discovery, management, and configuration of iSCSI devices on a TCP/IP network.
For information about configuring the Oracle Solaris iSCSI target to use a third-party iSNS server, see Configuring Storage Devices With COMSTAR.
For information about configuring the Oracle Solaris iSCSI target for an Oracle Solaris iSNS server, see Configuring and Managing the Oracle Solaris Internet Storage Name Service (iSNS).
The /dev/chassis directory contains device names that include physical locations. This information can help you identify where devices are physically located if they need to be replaced or changed. For a list of commands that display disk information as well as examples to obtain physical location information, see Displaying Disk Physical Locations.