Understanding the Difference Between a Disk, Drive, Volume, Partition, and Image

In a Unix system like Ubuntu or macOS, you’ll see references to storage devices by many names. There are disks, partitions, volumes, and images, as well as containers and the ever-popular drives. Windows computers use a similar naming scheme, but there might be small differences. Let’s examine the differences in definition between a drive, disk, volume, partition, and image.

Drive

A drive is a physical device that’s used to store data. It’s not really a formal term but a commonly-used one. While the strictest definition would be the physical device that stores data, the term is often used informally to refer to any storage device, from a disk to a volume. Technically, its meaning is restricted to describing a hardware device. A drive is a physical object upon which a disk resides.

“Disk” is the word used by Unix systems to refer to physical storage devices. Disks contain volumes and can contain multiple volumes of different sizes. A disk is like the parent container for all the logical divisions of storage that might come below it. Examine the disks attached to a Unix system, and you’ll see specifications like “disk1s2.” That specifies the parent disk (“disk1”) and the partition/volume number (“s2”) within the disk.

Partition

A partition is very much like a volume. In fact, the two terms are used almost interchangeably. Even system programs like macOS’ Disk Utility don’t distinguish between the unformatted partition and the formatted volume. But if we want to get precise, a “partition” is a chunk of a disk. It doesn’t necessarily contain a file system, and it might not be formatted to store data. Instead, a partition is just a part of a disk with a specific size, which is set at the time of creation. A partition can be resized, but it requires re-writing the disk’s partition table and possibly erasing data.

Volume

A volume is the part of the disk that you interact with as a user. While partitions and volumes are coterminal, a volume has a name and file system in addition to a size. When you mount a storage device and its icon appears in your file browser, you’re seeing the volume. Multiple volumes can be stored on a single disk, and operating systems keep track of what volumes are on what drives. Open up “Disk Utility” on macOS or Disks in Ubuntu and you’ll see your familiar volume names underneath cryptic-looking disk names.

Image

Images function like volumes, but they have no physical hardware related to them. They’re like a picture of a physical volume, containing every bit stored on the captured volume. You can create an image of any volume, whether it’s stored on a hard drive or a CD, and store it on any other device with sufficient free space. Windows makes use of images for system backups (called System Images) that can be smaller than the disk they’re capturing. This is because images don’t typically store empty space. An image must be mounted or attached before it can be accessed, just like a drive. It also has its own file system and can be “cloned” to another volume to copy the contents of the imaged volume.

Containers

Some filesystems also make use of containers. Specifically, macOS recently introduced containers into its new file system, Apple File System (APFS). Containers are distinct from the other items on this list and function a little differently. Within APFS, disks hold containers and containers hold volumes. The volumes within a given container are allowed to share the space allocated to the container, which has a set maximum size. This means the volumes can be flexible, expanding to fit files or shrinking to allow other volumes to grow. This is distinctly unlike the fixed partitions of other filesystems like ext4, HFS+ or ExFAT. The size of partitions under those file systems is specified at the time of creation, and changing the size of a partition requires rewriting the partition table. APFS, however, resizes volumes within a container on the fly to accommodate data.

Conclusion

In short, disks contain volumes which contain data. Disks are the physical manifestation of a drive. Containers are used in place of partition tables in the APFS filesystem. Images are “pictures” of the data on a volume, capturing the exact arrangement of bits on a drive.

Alexander Fox is a tech and science writer based in Philadelphia, PA with one cat, three Macs and more USB cables than he could ever use.

Обзор средства управления дисками Overview of Disk Management

Относится к: Windows 10, Windows 8.1, Windows 7, Windows Server (Semi-Annual Channel), Windows Server 2019, Windows Server 2016, Windows Server 2012 R2, Windows Server 2012 Applies To: Windows 10, Windows 8.1, Windows 7, Windows Server (Semi-Annual Channel), Windows Server 2019, Windows Server 2016, Windows Server 2012 R2, Windows Server 2012

Управление дисками — это системная служебная программа Windows, дающая возможность выполнять дополнительные задачи хранилища. Disk Management is a system utility in Windows that enables you to perform advanced storage tasks. Ниже приведены некоторые задачи, которые хорошо подходят для управления дисками. Here are some of the things Disk Management is good for:

• Чтобы настроить новый диск, см. раздел Инициализация нового диска. To setup a new drive, see Initializing a new drive.
• Чтобы расширить том в пространство, которое пока не является частью тома на том же диске, см. раздел Расширение базового тома. To extend a volume into space that’s not already part of a volume on the same drive, see Extend a basic volume.
• Чтобы сжать раздел (обычно для того, чтобы расширить соседний), см. раздел Сжатие базового тома. To shrink a partition, usually so that you can extend a neighboring partition, see Shrink a basic volume.
• Чтобы изменить или назначить букву диска, см. раздел Изменение буквы диска. To change a drive letter or assign a new drive letter, see Change a drive letter.

Если отобразится сообщение об ошибке или что-то не сработает при выполнении этих процедур, рекомендуем заглянуть в раздел Устранение неполадок при управлении дисками. If you get an error or something doesn’t work when following these procedures, take a peek at the Troubleshooting Disk Management topic. Если и это не поможет, сохраняйте спокойствие! If that doesn’t help — don’t panic! Есть множество сведений на сайте сообщества Майкрософт: попробуйте поиск в разделе Файлы, папки и хранилища; если вам по-прежнему нужна помощь, опубликуйте там вопрос и Майкрософт или другие члены сообщества попытаются вам помочь. There’s a ton of info on the Microsoft community site — try searching the Files, folders, and storage section, and if you still need help, post a question there and Microsoft or other members of the community will try to help. Если у вас есть отзыв о том, как улучшить эти разделы, мы будем рады узнать ваше мнение! If you have feedback on how to improve these topics, we’d love to hear from you! Просто ответьте на запрос Помогла ли вам эта страница? , оставив свои комментарии на открывшейся странице или в открытой цепочке комментариев в нижней части этого раздела. Just answer the Is this page helpful? prompt, and leave any comments there or in the public comments thread at the bottom of this topic.

Ниже приведены некоторые распространенные задачи, которые можно выполнить с помощью других средств в Windows. Here are some common tasks you might want to do but that use other tools in Windows:

• Чтобы освободить место на диске, см. раздел Освобождение места на диске в Windows 10. To free up disk space, see Free up drive space in Windows 10.
• Чтобы провести дефрагментацию дисков, см. раздел Дефрагментация компьютера с Windows 10. To defragment your drives, see Defragment your Windows 10 PC.
• Чтобы объединить несколько жестких дисков аналогично RAID, см. раздел Дисковые пространства. To take multiple hard drives and pool them together, similar to a RAID, see Storage Spaces.

О дополнительных разделах восстановления About those extra recovery partitions

Если вам интересно (мы прочитали ваши комментарии!), Windows обычно включает три раздела на основном диске (обычно это диск C): In case you’re curious (we’ve read your comments!), Windows typically includes three partitions on your main drive (usually the C:\ drive):

• Системный раздел EFI — на современных ПК используется для запуска (загрузки) компьютера и операционной системы. EFI system partition — This is used by modern PCs to start (boot) your PC and your operating system.
• Диск операционной системы Windows (C:) — здесь установлена система Windows и обычно размещены остальные приложения и файлы. Windows operating system drive (C:) — This is where Windows is installed, and usually where you put the rest of your apps and files.
• Раздел восстановления — служит для хранения специальных средств восстановления Windows, если возникают проблемы с запуском или чем-то еще. Recovery partition — This is where special tools are stored to help you recover Windows in case it has trouble starting or runs into other serious issues.

Несмотря на то что управление дисками может показывать системный раздел EFI и раздел восстановления как свободные на 100 %, это не точно. Although Disk Management might show the EFI system partition and the recovery partition as 100% free, it’s lying. Эти разделы обычно заполнены действительно важными файлами, которые нужны для правильной работы компьютера. These partitions are generally pretty full with really important files your PC needs to operate properly. Лучше всего оставить их в покое, чтобы вы могли запускать ПК и восстановить его в случае проблем. It’s best to just leave them alone to do their jobs starting your PC and helping you recover from problems.

Understanding the Difference Between a Disk, Drive, Volume, Partition, and Image

In a Unix system like Ubuntu or macOS, you’ll see references to storage devices by many names. There are disks, partitions, volumes, and images, as well as containers and the ever-popular drives. Windows computers use a similar naming scheme, but there might be small differences. Let’s examine the differences in definition between a drive, disk, volume, partition, and image.

Drive

A drive is a physical device that’s used to store data. It’s not really a formal term but a commonly-used one. While the strictest definition would be the physical device that stores data, the term is often used informally to refer to any storage device, from a disk to a volume. Technically, its meaning is restricted to describing a hardware device. A drive is a physical object upon which a disk resides.

“Disk” is the word used by Unix systems to refer to physical storage devices. Disks contain volumes and can contain multiple volumes of different sizes. A disk is like the parent container for all the logical divisions of storage that might come below it. Examine the disks attached to a Unix system, and you’ll see specifications like “disk1s2.” That specifies the parent disk (“disk1”) and the partition/volume number (“s2”) within the disk.

Partition

A partition is very much like a volume. In fact, the two terms are used almost interchangeably. Even system programs like macOS’ Disk Utility don’t distinguish between the unformatted partition and the formatted volume. But if we want to get precise, a “partition” is a chunk of a disk. It doesn’t necessarily contain a file system, and it might not be formatted to store data. Instead, a partition is just a part of a disk with a specific size, which is set at the time of creation. A partition can be resized, but it requires re-writing the disk’s partition table and possibly erasing data.

Volume

A volume is the part of the disk that you interact with as a user. While partitions and volumes are coterminal, a volume has a name and file system in addition to a size. When you mount a storage device and its icon appears in your file browser, you’re seeing the volume. Multiple volumes can be stored on a single disk, and operating systems keep track of what volumes are on what drives. Open up “Disk Utility” on macOS or Disks in Ubuntu and you’ll see your familiar volume names underneath cryptic-looking disk names.

Image

Images function like volumes, but they have no physical hardware related to them. They’re like a picture of a physical volume, containing every bit stored on the captured volume. You can create an image of any volume, whether it’s stored on a hard drive or a CD, and store it on any other device with sufficient free space. Windows makes use of images for system backups (called System Images) that can be smaller than the disk they’re capturing. This is because images don’t typically store empty space. An image must be mounted or attached before it can be accessed, just like a drive. It also has its own file system and can be “cloned” to another volume to copy the contents of the imaged volume.

Containers

Some filesystems also make use of containers. Specifically, macOS recently introduced containers into its new file system, Apple File System (APFS). Containers are distinct from the other items on this list and function a little differently. Within APFS, disks hold containers and containers hold volumes. The volumes within a given container are allowed to share the space allocated to the container, which has a set maximum size. This means the volumes can be flexible, expanding to fit files or shrinking to allow other volumes to grow. This is distinctly unlike the fixed partitions of other filesystems like ext4, HFS+ or ExFAT. The size of partitions under those file systems is specified at the time of creation, and changing the size of a partition requires rewriting the partition table. APFS, however, resizes volumes within a container on the fly to accommodate data.

Conclusion

In short, disks contain volumes which contain data. Disks are the physical manifestation of a drive. Containers are used in place of partition tables in the APFS filesystem. Images are “pictures” of the data on a volume, capturing the exact arrangement of bits on a drive.

Alexander Fox is a tech and science writer based in Philadelphia, PA with one cat, three Macs and more USB cables than he could ever use.