From mboxrd@z Thu Jan  1 00:00:00 1970
From: <root@warpy.yomeganet.biz>
Subject: AW: Stupid Question?
Date: Mon, 24 May 2004 11:09:39 +0200
Sender: linux-raid-owner@vger.kernel.org
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To: 'Neil Brown' <neilb@cse.unsw.edu.au>, jim@rubylane.com
Cc: AndyLiebman@aol.com, linux-raid@vger.kernel.org
List-Id: linux-raid.ids

Hi,

> > > I feel like this is a stupid question. But I actually 
> don't know the 
> > > answer
> > > to it. If I'm going to make a Software RAID array with a 
> bunch of identical 
> > > disks, do the disks have to have at least one partition 
> on them? Or can I use 
> > > disks with NO partitions? 
> > 
> > Yes, the disks have to have partitions.  When you specify 
> "make a raid 
> > out of X, Y, Z", the X, Y, and Z are partition names, like 
> /dev/hda1, 
> > /dev/hdb1.  You can't make a raid out of /dev/hda and 
> /dev/hdb - whole 
> > devices.
> 
> Why not?  I do it all the time.
> 
> You cannot get the kernel to auto-detect the raid if it is 
> made from whole devices, but I don't care much about that.  
> It works for me.

Whats the benefit of doing an Array over the whole devices? Are there
any problems, for example that you maybe cannot boot from that array?

Thanks,

Greetings,
Stephan