CompTIA Server+ (SK0-005)Server Hardware Installation and ManagementHard
A server administrator needs to install a new operating system on a server that will use a 4TB hard drive. The administrator wants to ensure the server can boot directly from this drive and utilize its full capacity. Which partitioning scheme and boot mode combination should be selected during installation?
- AGPT with UEFI boot mode.
- BMBR with Legacy BIOS boot mode.
- CMBR with UEFI boot mode.
- DGPT with Legacy BIOS boot mode.
Show answer & explanationAnswer & explanation
Correct answer: A. GPT with UEFI boot mode.
To utilize the full capacity of a drive larger than 2TB and ensure bootability, the GUID Partition Table (GPT) partitioning scheme is required. GPT is natively supported by UEFI (Unified Extensible Firmware Interface) boot mode. Legacy BIOS with MBR (Master Boot Record) cannot address drives larger than 2TB for booting or full capacity utilization.
Why the other options are wrong
- B. MBR cannot utilize the full 4TB capacity and is limited to 2TB partitions.
- C. MBR cannot utilize the full 4TB capacity, even with UEFI.
- D. GPT is compatible with large drives, but Legacy BIOS cannot natively boot from a GPT partition for the OS drive.
GPT and UEFI for Large Drives
The combination of GUID Partition Table (GPT) partitioning scheme and Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI) boot mode is necessary to fully utilize and boot from hard drives larger than 2TB.
- GPT supports drives > 2TB
- UEFI is the modern boot firmware
- MBR/Legacy BIOS are limited to 2TB
Memory trick: UEFI and GPT for big drives, BIOS and MBR for old lives.