Ubuntu 12.04 partioning an external drive without lossing data
- by Menelaos Perdikeas
I have an Ubuntu 12.04 with an external 1.5T disk (just for data). It is /dev/sdc1 seen below:
$ df -T
Filesystem Type 1K-blocks Used Available Use% Mounted on
/dev/sda1 ext4 1451144932 27722584 1350794536 3% /
udev devtmpfs 6199460 4 6199456 1% /dev
tmpfs tmpfs 2482692 988 2481704 1% /run
none tmpfs 5120 0 5120 0% /run/lock
none tmpfs 6206724 284 6206440 1% /run/shm
/dev/sdc1 fuseblk 1465135100 172507664 1292627436 12% /media/Elements
The thing is I would like to implement this rsync-based backup strategy and I want to use my /dev/sdc1 external drive for that. Since the guide mentioned above recommends placing the backup directory in a separate partition I want to repartition the /dev/sdc1 external hard disk but retain existing data in a separate partition. E.g. split /dev/sdc1 into two partitions: (i) one to be used exclusively for the rsync-based backup and (ii) the other for the existing miscellaneous data. How should I go about partitioning with minimal risk to my existing data and what kind of filesystem do you recommend? I would prefer a console-based guide but unfortunately all the material I found on the web is oriented towards partitioning the main (bootable) disk and not an external fuseblk filesystem used only for passive data.
