[linux-lvm] partition table needed for lvm ?

[Chris Hunter]

Hi, I am relatively new to lvm.

I am using redhat enterprise 4, which uses "lvm2" as it default volume
manager. We have storage devices (ie SAN) that combine 20-40 disks
together into 4+ TB filesystems. We are investigating using lvm to
manage these disks.

The release notes for "rhel4 update 1" state that you _require_ a
partition table to use lvm2:
http://www.redhat.com/docs/manuals/enterprise/RHEL-4-Manual/release-notes/as-x86/RELEASE-NOTES-U1-x86-en.html

>· Various issues with LVM2 on large devices are fixed in Red Hat
>Enterprise Linux 4 Update 1. Do not use LVM2 on devices larger than 2
>TB prior to installing Update 1.
>
>As noted above, Red Hat requires that a partition table be written to
>the block device, even when it is used as part of an LVM2 Volume
Group. >In this case, you may create a single partition that spans the
entire >device. Then, be sure to specify the full partition name (for
example, >/dev/sda1, not /dev/sda), when you use the pvcreate and
vgcreate >commands.

According to the lvm HOWTO, lvm can manage disks _without_ partition
tables. In fact I tested this and it appears to work.

Do I reallly need to make partition tables on all my disks to use lvm2 ?

What will happen if I don't use partition tables with lvm ?

Thank-you in advance,

-- 
Chris Hunter