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diff --git a/doc/parted.texi b/doc/parted.texi index cb12e8d..060f3d4 100644 --- a/doc/parted.texi +++ b/doc/parted.texi @@ -291,12 +291,38 @@ or you want to modify a root or boot partition, use GParted Live: @section Introduction to Partitioning @cindex partitioning overview -Unfortunately, partitioning your disk is rather complicated. This is -because there are interactions between many different systems that need -to be taken into consideration. +Partitioning is the process of dividing a storage device into local +sections, called partitions, which help organize multiple filesystems +and their associated operating systems. + +A storage device presents itself as a sequence of bytes, numbered +starting from zero and increasing until the maximum capacity of the +device is reached. Bytes are normally read and written a sector at a +time, rather than individually. Each sector contains a fixed number +of bytes, with the number determined by the device. + +@example ++------------------------------------------------------------+ +| storage device with no partitions | ++------------------------------------------------------------+ +0 start end +@end example + +In order to store multiple filesystems, a storage device can be divided +up in to multiple partitions. Each partition can be thought of as an +area which contains a real filesystem inside of it. To show where these +partitions are on the device a small table is written at the start, +shown as PT in the diagram below. This table is called a partition +table, or disklabel, and also stores the type of each partition and +some flags. + +@example ++--+---------------+----------------+------------------------+ +|PT| Partition 1 | Partition 2 | Partition 3 | ++--+---------------+----------------+------------------------+ +0 start end +@end example -This manual used to introduce the reader to these systems and their -working. This content has moved to the GNU Storage Guide. @node Running Parted @section Using GNU Parted |