Ubuntu Installation :: How Makes Larger 'file Systems' Using /etc/fstab

I have noticed the (understandable) tendency of new Linux users to think about disk drives in the 'Windows way'; their first thought is to exchange a new drive for an existing one, rather than combine both drives for a larger 'file system'.

There are times when replacing one drive with another is indeed the correct action (aging drive, failing drive, slow drive, etc). But in other cases it may be preferable to use the inherent strength of the fstab (file system table) file to combine physical drives to become a larger 'file system'.

Lets first look at a user with an 8 gig netbook who is running out of space. Rather than replace the 8 gig flash drive with a 32 gig device, the old and new devices can be combined to yield a 40 gig 'file system':

This same principle can be applied to a user with a computer using an 80 gig hard drive, and who 'adds' a new 320 gig drive instead of replacing the 80 gig drive with the 320 gig drive:

This same principle can also be applied to building a massive 'file system' without the requirement of using RAID:

The above 12 terabyte system can be built using a basic motherboard with four open SATA ports and four 3tb hard drives. No server based equipment is needed; no raid hardware or software is required. This is just something that Linux does (and does very well).