HowTo - Add Big Disk for my Linux VPS

With the help of Big Disk, you can add up to 20,000GB of additional storage space to your VPS. You can think of Big Disk as an extra (external) hard drive that you can connect to your server and use to store big amounts of data like photographs and videos. For instance, consider the backups of your VPS services. 

How to order Big Disk 

1. Navigate to your server after logging onto your Tilaa account. Click on the VPS which you want to use it for Big Disk.  
2. To order Big Disk, click on ‘Add Big Disk’. 
   
   
3. Choose the disk size and type of your Big Disk drive.  When you're done, click 'Order Big Disk' to go to the next step in the order process. Please note: You must check the reinstall box, because we need to reboot your VPS to complete this process.
   
   
4. After completing the order, you will be returned to your VPS overview page. There will be a new section called 'Big Disk’ and you can manage it by clicking on its name. 
   
   

Configuring Big Disk  

1. Before and after the Big Disk is attached to your VPS, run the following command: 

lsblk 

This is an example of what the output will look like:

A new disk vdX appears after connecting the Big Disk. In the rest of this article, replace X with the letter of your Big Disk (C in this case). 

2. If parted is not already installed, run the following command to install it:

'yum install parted' or 'apt-get install parted'

3. Before you can install a file system, you must first partition the drive. To do so, type the following command:

parted -s --align optimal /dev/vdX -- mklabel gpt mkpart primary 4MiB 100% 

4. Now you may make a file system. We'll create an ext4 file system below: 

mkfs -t ext4 /dev/vdX1 

5. Now use the following commands to mount the Big Disk and add it to / etc / fstab  

mkdir /mnt/bigdisk

echo "/dev/vdX1 /mnt/bigdisk ext4 defaults 0 0" | tee -a /etc/fstab

mount /mnt/bigdisk

df -h | grep bigdisk  

6. If everything went well, you should see something like this following the last command: 

You have just added a file system to your Big Disk and it is ready to be used.