BLKDEV(4D) Devices BLKDEV(4D)

NAME

blkdev - generic block device driver

DESCRIPTION

The blkdev driver supports generic block-oriented devices, such as non-
volatile memory storage devices. It provides a hardware independent layer
for such storage devices, allowing them to concentrate on the hardware-
specific details, while blkdev takes care of all the other details, such as
dkio(4I).

The blkdev driver only supports block-oriented, random-access devices. It
does not support traditional rotational media and does not support SCSI
commands.

The most typical use case for blkdev devices is to be used to host a file
system, such as pcfs(4FS) or zfs(4FS).

INTERFACE STABILITY

Uncommitted.

FILES

/dev/dsk/cndnsn Block device minor nodes.
/dev/rdsk/cndnsn Raw block device minor nodes.

In the above, the following substitutions may occur:

cn A controller number, typically one for each instance of
each underlying hardware dependent device driver (there
can be multiple such drivers in the system.)
Controller numbers are dynamically assigned by the
system.

dn Generally, each instance of the underlying hardware
will have a logical unit number as well.

sn This is the slice number, representing a subset of the
disk. See dkio(4I).

SEE ALSO

rmformat(1), sd(4D), pcfs(4FS), zfs(4FS), dkio(4I), devinfo(8), fdisk(8),
mount(8), umount(8)

illumos July 30, 2014 illumos