Go to main content

Oracle® Flash Accelerator F320 PCIe Card and Oracle 3.2 TB NVMe SSD Product Notes Release 1.3

Exit Print View

Updated: December 2017
 
 

3.2 TB Devices Exceed MBR 2 TB Boundary

The Master Boot Record (MBR) boundary has a 2 TB limit. The 3.2 TB NVMe SSD exceeds the 2 TB MBR boundary. Depending on the OS, the partitioning scheme used, and the boot loader, tools that work on less than 2 TB storage devices may not work on greater than 2 TB devices. For Flash Accelerator F320 PCIe Cards which are greater than the 2 TB master boot record, the MBR is restricted and can only handle drives to 2 TB. Thus the partitioning schemes and tools which use MBR no longer operate. On some OSes, the MBR only describes 2 TB. The MBR on a 3.2 TB NVMe SSD incorrectly shows the device as 2 TB. An MBR still exists in the first sector to avoid breaking legacy tools, but declares the device to be 2 TB.

Workaround:

The partitioning tools must use gpt. Use an alternate partioning scheme such as GPT GUID Partition, or Table GUID Partition Table. On Linux, instead of fdisk, use parted (gparted for graphical view) and gdisk instead. The Linux tool dd can only handle up to a 2 TB MBR. In general, for handling labels, erase the first few MBs of storage, which allows a new label to be created.