Navigating Advanced Storage & Sharing Techniques on Red Hat Linux CLI ??

Today, I continued my journey into Red Hat Enterprise Linux by navigating through advanced storage optimization techniques and exploring cross-platform file sharing. The practical insights from setting up storage and connecting file systems across Linux and Windows environments have been a big step forward. Here’s what I worked on:

1?? Creating and Mounting a Visual Data Optimizer (VDO) Volume

Visual Data Optimizer (VDO) is a powerful tool for optimizing storage in Linux. I installed and set up a VDO volume, formatted it with xfs, and configured it to mount automatically on reboot.

Steps:

Bash

# Install the VDO package
yum install vdo

# Display existing VDOs and check disk partitions
vd
fdisk -l  # Find the right partition (e.g., /dev/sdb)

# Create a VDO volume
vdo create --name=myvdo --device=/dev/sdb --vdoLogicalSize=40G

# Format the VDO with XFS and create a mount point
mkfs.xfs -K /dev/mapper/myvdo
mkdir /myvdo

# Mount the VDO and verify
mount /dev/mapper/myvdo /myvdo/
df -h
        

To make the VDO mount persistent, I added it to /etc/fstab:

Bash
# Edit the fstab file and add the entry
vi /etc/fstab

# Add the line:
/dev/mapper/myvdo /myvdo xfs defaults 0 0

# Verify with the following command:
mount -a
        

This setup allowed me to optimize storage and maintain it consistently across reboots, providing better data storage control.

2?? Creating a Swap File and Swap Partition

Swap files and partitions extend available memory, kicking in when the RAM is full. Here’s a quick walk-through of creating swap space on Red Hat.

Steps:

Bash
# Check available memory and swap space
free -m

# Create a swap file of 1GB, set permissions, and format it for swap
dd if=/dev/zero of=/swapfile bs=1M count=1024
chmod 600 /swapfile
mkswap /swapfile

# Activate the swap file and verify
swapon /swapfile
free -m
        

Adding it to /etc/fstab ensures that the swap file is used automatically after reboot:

Bash
# Open fstab and add:
vi /etc/fstab

# Add the line:
/swapfile swap swap defaults 0 0

# Verify
mount -a
        

This setup has proven valuable for maintaining system stability, especially in memory-intensive tasks.

3?? Setting Up NFS and CIFS for Cross-Platform File Sharing

Network File System (NFS) and Common Internet File System (CIFS) are great tools for sharing files across Linux and mixed (Linux and Windows) environments.

NFS Setup for Linux-to-Linux Sharing

Bash
# Install NFS utilities and start the client service
yum install -y nfs-utils
systemctl enable nfs-client.target
systemctl start nfs-client.target

# Create a directory and configure the NFS server in the hosts file
mkdir /nfsShare
vi /etc/hosts

# Add server IP and hostname
192.168.1.10 sharedserver.com

# Mount the NFS directory from the server
mount -t nfs sharedserver.com:/home/shared /nfsShare

# Check mounted NFS directory
df -h /nfsShare
        

To ensure it’s available across reboots, I added it to /etc/fstab:

Bash
# Open fstab and add the NFS entry
vi /etc/fstab
# Add:
sharedserver.com:/home/shared /nfsShare nfs defaults 0 0

# Mount all in fstab to verify
mount -a        

CIFS Setup for Cross-Platform File Sharing (Linux-Windows)

Bash
# Install CIFS utilities
yum install -y samba-client cifs-utils

# Create directory and mount CIFS share
mkdir /cifsShared
vi /etc/fstab

# Add CIFS share:
# //server/share /cifsShared cifs username=myuser,password=mypass 0 0

# Verify mount
mount -a
df -h /cifsShared        

Both NFS and CIFS have made it incredibly easy to access and manage files across multiple systems, bridging my Linux and Windows environments seamlessly.

Conclusion

These hands-on explorations have solidified my understanding of storage and file sharing management in Linux. Optimizing storage through VDO, managing virtual memory with swap, and establishing cross-platform sharing with NFS and CIFS are foundational skills in Linux administration, and each technique brings a deeper appreciation for the flexibility and power of Red Hat.

Whether you’re starting in Linux or looking to deepen your skills, I highly recommend exploring these tools—they’re integral to efficient systems administration.

Let’s connect if you’re also on the journey to mastering Linux, and share insights along the way!

#Linux #RedHat #SystemAdmin #VDO #NFS #CIFS #SwapFile #LinuxLearning #ITCommunity