View Source: GPT - Waikato Linux Users Group

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[Acronym] for __G__UID __P__artition __T__able

[GPT] was introduced for iA64 systems, to get around a ''fixed 32 bit issue'' (2 to the power of 32 is 4 billion times a 512 byte block equals 2 Terabytes) in the [PC]-[BIOS] [Partition] table. [Partition]s larger than 2 TB require using a [GPT] disklabel, which differs from the [PC]-[BIOS] [Partition] table in a number of ways:

* Is easily extensible.
* Can contain up to 128 primary partitions, as opposed to 4, so there's no need for extended partitions.
* Allows [Partition]s larger than 2 TB.
* Identifies [Partition]s with a [GUID] so you can reference that [Partition] even if disks are moved around.
* Identifies [Partition] type with a [GUID], thus avoiding the type conflicts that plague the [PC]-[BIOS] [Partition] table format.
* Provides a 36 character [UTF]-16 partition label to identify [Partition]s.
* Has a "fake" [MBR] for backwards compatibility.
* Includes a [CRC]32 to detect corrupt [Partition] tables.
* Stores a backup [Partition] table at the end of the disk.

Most partitioning tools under [Linux] will fail to do anything sensible with a > 2 TB [Partition]. As of this writing (June 22, 2005), parted(8) is the only one that understands them and will let you set the [GPT] label on the disk.

There is a lot of information stating that you cannot boot off a [GPT] enabled device. Most of the claims imply that the fault is with [LILO] or [GRUB] not understanding [GPT] devices. We've not tested this, but [GPT] and traditional [MBR]s will coexist.

See also:
* [Disk Sectors on GPT Disks | http://www.microsoft.com/resources/documentation/Windows/XP/all/reskit/en-us/prkd_tro_zkfe.asp] from the [MS] Knowledge Base
* [GPT article | http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GUID_Partition_Table] on Wikipedia

One page links to GPT:

Partition

Last edited on Wednesday, April 8, 2009 2:06:31 pm by "AlexanderYuan"

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