Mastering Disk Management for Better Storage Control – Marwan Ayman Shawky

Handle storage devices, partitions, and file systems: check available space, partition disks, and keep data reliable.

Disk management in Linux is about handling storage devices, partitions, and file systems to ensure proper allocation, performance, and data reliability. It includes tasks like checking available space, mounting/unmounting disks, creating partitions, formatting, and monitoring disk health.

Checking Disk Space and Usage

View mounted filesystems and usage
```
df -h
```
(Shows disk space usage in a human-readable format)

Terminal showing df -h output with filesystem sizes and mount points

Check directory/file usage

du -sh /path/to/dir
du -h --max-depth=1 /var

Terminal showing disk usage totals for /var and /etc directories

Terminal showing per-subdirectory usage breakdown of /var

💡 Note: You can adjust the depth level based on how deeply you want to check the folder structure of a specific directory.

Check block devices
```
lsblk
```

Terminal showing lsblk listing disks sda, sdb, and sdc with sizes

Mounting and Unmounting

Mount a device
```
sudo mount /dev/sdb1 /mnt/data
```
Unmount a device
```
sudo umount /mnt/data
```
Persistent mounting → Add entry in /etc/fstab
Example:
```
/dev/sdb1   /mnt/data   ext4   defaults   0   2
```
You can create a one-line command to get the UUID and filesystem type from lsblk and automatically append it to your /etc/fstab file using tee. This is a great way to avoid typos.

# Customize these variables
DEVICE="/dev/sda1"
MOUNT_POINT="/mnt/data"
OPTIONS="defaults,nofail"

# The command to copy and paste
UUID=$(sudo blkid -s UUID -o value "$DEVICE")
FSTYPE=$(sudo blkid -s TYPE -o value "$DEVICE")
echo "UUID=$UUID $MOUNT_POINT $FSTYPE $OPTIONS 0 2" | sudo tee -a /etc/fstab

Partition Management

List partitions
```
sudo fdisk -l
```
Create/modify partitions (interactive tools):
- fdisk /dev/sdb (for MBR)
- parted /dev/sdb (for GPT/large disks)

File System Management

Format partition
```
sudo mkfs.ext4 /dev/sdb1
```
Check filesystem health
```
sudo fsck /dev/sdb1
```

Disk Monitoring & Health

Check disk I/O performance

sudo dnf install smartmontools # use it if you dont have this package installed in your system

iostat

Terminal showing iostat CPU averages and I/O stats for sda, sdb, sdc

SMART monitoring (for hardware health)

💡 You need to download and install the package first if it is not already included with your Linux system.
```
sudo dnf install smartmontools
```
```
sudo smartctl -a /dev/sda
```
Check disk usage in real time

💡 You need to download and install the package first if it is not already included with your Linux system.
```
iotop
```

Key Takeaways

df and du → check usage.
mount, umount, /etc/fstab → control mounting.
fdisk/parted → manage partitions.
mkfs, fsck → handle file systems.
smartctl, iostat, iotop → monitor health and performance.

Disk Management Cheatsheet

Category	Command	Description
Check Disk Usage	`df -h`	Show mounted filesystems with usage in human-readable format
	`du -sh /path`	Show total size of a directory
	`lsblk`	List block devices (disks & partitions)
Mount / Unmount	`sudo mount /dev/sdb1 /mnt/data`	Mount partition to directory
	`sudo umount /mnt/data`	Unmount partition
	`/etc/fstab`	File for persistent mounts
Partitioning	`sudo fdisk -l`	List partitions
	`sudo fdisk /dev/sdb`	Partition disk (MBR)
	`sudo parted /dev/sdb`	Partition disk (GPT / large disks)
File System	`sudo mkfs.ext4 /dev/sdb1`	Format partition as ext4
	`sudo fsck /dev/sdb1`	Check/repair filesystem
Monitoring & Health	`iostat`	Show I/O statistics
	`sudo iotop`	Real-time I/O usage per process
	`sudo smartctl -a /dev/sda`	Check disk health (SMART info)

⚡ Quick Mnemonics:

df/du → Usage
mount/umount/fstab → Access
fdisk/parted → Partitions
mkfs/fsck → Filesystems
iostat/iotop/smartctl → Monitoring

Conclusion

You’ve successfully completed the Linux Fundamentals Series 🚀.

So far, you’ve learned:

Basic Commands
File Permissions & Ownership
User & Group Management
Package Management
Scheduling (cron & at)
Shell Scripting Fundamentals
Networking Basics
Disk Management

With these skills, you can confidently manage a Linux system, automate tasks, configure networks, and handle storage.

Thank You!

Thank you for following along this journey. Your consistency and curiosity are what will make you a great Linux administrator. 🐧

Stay tuned for Linux Admin 2 — where we’ll go deeper into advanced administration, storage, networking, and security.

“Linux is not just an OS, it’s a mindset — keep experimenting, keep learning.” 💻

What’s Next?

Would you like to:

Continue with Linux Admin 2 → Advanced topics like LVM, RAID, systemd, and security, or
Jump into DevOps → Hands-on with Docker, Kubernetes, and Ansible?

The choice is yours, depending on whether you want to master Linux deeper first or move toward DevOps and cloud workflows.

Contact

If you notice any mistakes, broken commands, or unclear sections in these articles, feel free to reach out with feedback or questions. Your input helps improve the series for everyone.