Hardware Archives

How often do you have to reboot your Linux server?

11 January 2023 by Luke Reynolds

Are you tired of constantly having to reboot your servers to fix issues or apply updates? You’re not alone. Server maintenance and uptime can be a tricky balance, and the decision of when to reboot a server comes with trade-offs. In this article, we’ll take a deep dive into the reasons why servers may need to be rebooted, the potential consequences of not rebooting, and the different approaches to server maintenance and uptime.

We’ll also explore tools and techniques that can minimize the need for reboots. Whether you’re a sysadmin, a developer, or a manager, this article will give you a better understanding of the complexities of server maintenance and uptime and help you make informed decisions about when to reboot your servers.

How to retrieve hardware information with dmidecode on Linux

20 December 2022 by Egidio Docile

Dmidecode is a free and open source utility we can use to retrieve hardware information on Linux. The tool is available in the repositories of all the major Linux distributions, and is able to inspect and dump the content of the SMBIOS table.

/boot/efi Linux partition: What is, usage recommendations

16 December 2022 by Korbin Brown

The /boot/efi partition is present on most Linux systems and is where the boot loaders (and sometimes kernel images and drivers) are stored for all of the installed operating systems on the disk. The system’s UEFI firmware will load these files upon system boot.

Clone partition on Linux

15 December 2022 by Korbin Brown

Making a clone of a disk partition is a great way to make a complete backup. This type of backup would preserve all your system and personal files on that particular partition. Cloning and restoring a disk partition is relatively easy, even if you are cloning the partition on to a completely different storage device.

How to format disk in Linux

14 December 2022 by Korbin Brown

Formatting a disk will get it ready for use as a storage device on your Linux system. The process involves partitioning the disk, adding a file system to the partition (this is the “formatting” part), and then mounting the partition to some path where you plan to access it from. This might sound complex or like a lot of steps, but it really only takes a few minutes.

MBR/DOS vs GPT partition scheme for Linux

14 December 2022 by Korbin Brown

When partitioning a hard disk or other storage device, you have a choice on what type of partition scheme to use. By far, the two most common partition schemes to use are MBR (Master Boot Record, sometimes also referred to as msdos) and GPT (GUID Partition Table). When preparing to partition and format your hard drive, it is important to understand the differences between these two schemes in order to choose which one is ideal for your situation.

How to check memory size in Linux

14 December 2022 by Korbin Brown

If you want to know the memory size of your Linux system, you will be relieved to know that it is not necessary to crack open the PC or boot into the BIOS screen to get your information. Linux allows us to check our memory size, and other relevant information such as spare slots and RAM speed, etc, all from within the operating system. We will go over some of these hardware checking methods below.

How to partition a drive on Linux

14 December 2022 by Korbin Brown

Every hard disk, in order to be accessible under Linux, must have at least one partition on it. A partition is a way to logically separate different sections of a disk. For example, a 4 TB hard drive could have four different 1 TB partitions, and all would appear as separate storage systems under the operating system. Alternatively, a hard disk could simply contain a single partition that spans the entire volume. The configuration is entirely up to the user.

Ubuntu server system requirements

8 December 2022 by Korbin Brown

Ubuntu Linux is one of the most well known Linux distributions available. You have probably seen Canonical’s ubiquitous logo and the familiar look of Ubuntu Desktop running GNOME. What you may not have realized is that Ubuntu also has a very popular server edition of their operating system.

How to add new disk to existing Linux system

2 November 2022 by Korbin Brown

When you are adding a new disk to an existing Linux system, you will need to format and partition it, add a file system to it, and then mount the disk to some path where you plan to access it from. This might sound complex or like a lot of steps, but it really only takes a few minutes. The following tutorial will make it very easy.

USB Drive benchmark test on Linux

17 October 2022 by Korbin Brown

If you want to perform a benchmark test on a USB thumb drive or other external USB hard drive, the procedure is quite similar to doing a benchmark test on an ordinary, internal storage device. All that we need to do is measure the read and write speed of the USB drive. In this tutorial, you will see how to benchmark test a USB drive via command line and GUI on a Linux system.

How to list all disks, partitions and sizes on Linux

8 October 2022 by Korbin Brown

The purpose of this tutorial is to list all disks, partitions, and their sizes on a Linux system. This will help you identify what hardware storage you have available, how the disks are partitioned, and what sizes each of them are. You will learn a command line and GUI method below.