stripe(8) System Manager's Manual stripe(8)
NAME
stripe - Stripes a file across several volumes in a file domain
SYNOPSIS
/usr/sbin/stripe -n volume_count filename
OPTIONS
Specifies the number of volumes the striped file crosses. The number of volumes must be greater than one.
OPERANDS
Specifies the name of the file to stripe.
DESCRIPTION
The stripe utility enables you to improve the read/write performance of a file. The stripe utility directs a zero-length file (a file with
no data written to it yet) to be spread evenly across several volumes within a file domain. As data is appended to the file, the data is
spread across the volumes. AdvFS determines the number of pages per stripe segment and alternates the segments among the disks in a sequen-
tial pattern.
Existing, nonzero-length files cannot be striped using the stripe utility. To stripe an existing file, create a new file, use the stripe
utility to stripe the new file, and copy the contents of the file you want to stripe into the new striped file. After copying the file,
delete the nonstriped file.
Once a file is striped, you cannot use the stripe utility to modify the number of disks that a striped file crosses. To change the volume
count of a striped file, you can create a second file with a new volume count, and then copy the contents of the first file into the second
file. After copying the file, delete the first file.
RESTRICTIONS
You cannot stripe a nonzero-length file or a file that is already striped.
EXAMPLES
The following example stripes the file abc across three volumes in the same file domain: # stripe -n 3 abc The following example stripes an
existing, nonzero-length file, foo, across three volumes in the same domain. First a new file, newfoo, is created and striped. Then, the
contents of file foo are copied to the new, striped file: # touch newfoo # stripe -n 3 newfoo # cp foo newfoo
SEE ALSO
advfs(4), showfile(8)
stripe(8)