loki@physicsa.mcgill.ca (Loki Jorgenson Rm421) (03/30/89)
We have a 3/180 acting as fileserver to 4 3/50's with SUN OS 3.5. The 3/180's disk is configured to support another 4 clients, each system partition using about 7.7Mbytes. Since we have no intention of buying new machines in the near future, I was hoping to be able to mount these unused /dev/ndl partitions and use them as mini-storage areas for the users. We have a considerable number of researchers, all with needs. I cannot directly mount them, since they are 'busy' according to /etc/mount. I have been able to make them available by uncommenting the entries in nd.local for the unused clients. The network demon complains about unknown users but /etc/mount subsequently allows them to be mounted. I failed to see any obvious problem with this arrangement until lately, when we have had series of problems which defied explanation. Without belabouring you all with my woes, can anyone suggest why this arrangement might be a problem and, further, how I might avoid these problems and yet safely mount the spare partitions? Please send directly to me by Email. Thanks in advance, Loki Jorgenson node: loki@physicsa.mcgill.ca Physics, McGill University fax: (514) 398-3733 Montreal Quebec CANADA phone: (514) 398-6531 NB: For those of you who are wondering, yes, I did save the original client systems before releasing the partitions to the users.
mcgrew@topaz.rutgers.edu (Charles) (04/07/89)
> We have a 3/180 acting as fileserver to 4 3/50's with SUN > OS 3.5. The 3/180's disk is configured to support another 4 > clients, each system partition using about 7.7Mbytes. Since > we have no intention of buying new machines in the near > future, I was hoping to be able to mount these unused /dev/ndl > partitions and use them as mini-storage areas for the users. > We have a considerable number of researchers, all with needs. All you need to do is to put entries in your /etc/nd.local (for bogus hostnames - you can ignore the 'unknown host' messages) to do the kernel magic of setting aside the partitions as real. Then create the devices (in /dev), rerun nd (/etc/nd - < /etc/nd.local), mkfs the partitions, mount them on the local machine, update /etc/exports to allow them to be exported, and you're done. The system administrator's manual (how to add a client) will give most of this - all you're doing is mounting the partition on the server rather than on a client. If I've been unclear, please let me know and I'll try again... Thanks, Charles
csmoko@relay.nswc.navy.mil (Chuck Smoko - E41) (04/26/89)
Charles Mcgrew (?) wrote a solution which describes how to use the extra disk space of unused clients. I would like to add a few helpful hints. > From: Charles <mcgrew@topaz.rutgers.edu> > ... > All you need to do is to put entries in your /etc/nd.local (for bogus > hostnames - you can ignore the 'unknown host' messages) to do the kernel > magic of setting aside the partitions as real. Then create the devices > (in /dev), rerun nd (/etc/nd - < /etc/nd.local), mkfs the partitions, > mount them on the local machine, update /etc/exports to allow them to be > exported, and you're done. The system administrator's manual (how to add > a client) will give most of this - all you're doing is mounting the > partition on the server rather than on a client. Hint 1: Use the swap space as well. Swaps are usually bigger anyway. Below is my old nd.local clear version 1 user 0 1 /dev/xy0f 0 10720 -1 user mercury 0 /dev/xy0c 127300 16080 0 user mercury 1 /dev/xy0c 143380 33500 -1 user earth 0 /dev/xy0c 176880 16080 1 user earth 1 /dev/xy0c 192960 33500 -1 user venus 0 /dev/xy0c 226460 16080 2 user venus 1 /dev/xy0c 242540 33500 -1 user milkyway 0 /dev/xy0c 276040 16080 3 user milkyway 1 /dev/xy0c 292120 33500 -1 son I made just one big partition by taking root and swap from earth, venus, and milkyway. and the resulting nd.local is clear version 1 user 0 1 /dev/xy0f 0 10720 -1 user mercury 0 /dev/xy0c 127300 16080 0 user mercury 1 /dev/xy0c 143380 33500 -1 user loopback 0 /dev/xy0c 176880 148740 1 son { I hope my math is right. I added the size of each of the unused partitions to arrive at 148740 } I used loopback as the internet and added a 0:0:0:0:0:0 entry in /etc/ethers for loopback. The raw space is now in /dev/rndl1. Run mkfs on it and thats it. Hint 2: If you add this space in /etc/fstab for mount at boot, you need to start nd early. I kludged an /etc/nd < /etc/nd.local in rc.boot right before the fsck so that nd can know about the 'sub partition'. Otherwise the fsck will fail and the system will not boot. Chuck Smoko Naval Surface Warfare Center