The role of partitions in a Linux file system

Table of Contents

1. The role of partitions in Linux

Before they can be used, hard drives must be divided into sections called partitions. Partitions are different physical sections on a hard drive that can be formatted and used independently.

The system sees each partition as a separate hard drive.

Multiple partitions enable more than one operating system to reside on a system even if you only have a single hard drive, because the different partitions act independently of one another.

Even if you have only a single operating system installed, using multiple partitions can be beneficial. It enables you to store data of different types in different locations, which makes data more accessible, easier to secure, and easier to back up.

In Linux, a bootable partition must exist entirely below the 1024th cylinder on the drive