If you choose to use raw partitions, examine your operating system's use of partitions carefully. Otherwise, you may overwrite valuable data. In particular, avoid the following situations:
Partition is already in use.
Partition overlaps with another partition.
Operating system is using partition for swap space.
A file system is mounted on the partition
Character or block devices for each disk partition (one or the other should be used, not both).
The following sections describe these situations in detail.
Ask your UNIX system administrator what the partition was originally configured for and make sure that it was not designated to serve for any other purpose except for the use of your Adaptive Server. If your partition is used for any other purpose, most of the information it stores might be corrupted or destroyed.
Verify that the partition you intend to use does not share cylinders with another partition. In particular, watch for the following scenarios:
On some UNIX systems (for example, SunOS BSD), partition c is, by convention, defined to be the whole disk, so it is expected that partition c will overlap all the other partitions.
If you are using partition c for your database device, do not use any other partitions on that drive, or check with your UNIX System Administrator to make sure that partition c is not defined as being the whole disk.
On other UNIX systems (AT&T SVR4), partition s6 is defined to be the whole disk.
Refer to your operating system administration guide for steps to determine whether a partition is being used for swap space.
For example, on AT&T SVR4 and HP, determine whether your partition is included in the output that is generated, using the following commands:
On AT&T SVR4:
% /etc/swap -l
On HP-UX:
% /etc/swapinfo or % /usr/sam/bin/swapinfo
These commands report information on swap partitions only if the entries are found in the file system table.
If the output of these commands includes the device name associated with your database partition, then the device is being used for swap space. Ask your operating system administrator which partition you may use for your database. For more information on how to choose raw partitions, refer to your Adaptive Server installation and configuration guides.
Determine whether your partition is included in the output generated by the following command(s):
% df
% /etc/mount
If the output from these commands includes the device name associated with your database partition, ask your operating system administrator to unmount the file system from the partition or to help you choose another disk partition. Note that using the partition as a raw database partition will destroy all file system information that was there.
