On Wed, Nov 21, 2007 at 05:22:50PM +0100, Malte Forkel wrote: > > I have a data file collection on three hard disks, each with just one > partition. The 'primary' partition has the complete directory structure. > The two 'secondary' partitions partially mirror that directory structure. > There are some data files on the primary partition. For each data file on > one of the secondary partitions, there is a soft link to it from the > primary partition. Each partition has a couple of GB space left. > Is it possible to migrate these partitions into one logical volume without > loosing or backing up the data? If I had a backup storage large enough to > hold all the data ...
Ouch. First, ensure that you have exhausted all backup options. Backup to another machine? How large are these disks? You say each has a couple of GB spare; is that free-space on the drive or that a partition with a filesystem that has some free space? You don't necessarily need backup storage large enough for all the data, just do do one partition at a time. Is the data already compressed? I've never tried resizing non-LVM partitions so I wouldn't attempt that without a backup. Hey, I don't attempt anything without a backup; including doing a backup. Your best bet may be to buy a fourth disk and make it the firs physical volume of a volume group, make your LV and put a filesystem on it. Transfer one drives data to it and do the shell-game from there. Or create an LV+filesystem and use it to hold a compressed tarball of the first data partition. It all depends on the size of the data set and the size of these drives. Doug. -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
