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If I only deal with Linux servers and Linux laptops, when should I create an EFI partition?

From my understanding an EFI partition on a Linux server ensures a standard for the disk layout, where EFI on a laptop is an requirement for UEFI.

Question

Can someone explain when I should use EFI on a disk?

Sandra
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2 Answers2

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From my understanding an EFI partition on a Linux server ensures a standard for the disk layout

Ah, yeah. So you think laptops are super special?

The EFI partition is part of the UEFI standard. Either you have an UEFI bios and use UEFI to boot, or you do not - and Laptop or Server is irrelevant.

Let me quote from Wikipedia:

It contains the boot loader programs for all operating systems installed (in other partitions) on the device, device driver files (used by the firmware at boot time) for other devices, system utility programs that are intended to be run before an operating system is booted, and data files such as error logs.

Official source somewhere in http://www.uefi.org/specifications

So, no - you use UEFI then you need an EFI partition, or you have a regular BIOS then you can not have one.

TomTom
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  • What I find strange is that on Solaris it creates an EFI partition when you make a ZFS pool. Why would it do that? – Sandra Nov 29 '13 at 08:46
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    Did you ask the Solaris people? – TomTom Nov 29 '13 at 09:06
  • Solaris mostly uses GPT label for ZFS disks. Has been able to do that since Solaris 9. Not sure all at that any EFI partitions are created. – fpmurphy Nov 30 '13 at 02:47
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Just adding more on EFI..

Like TomTom mentioned you either have BIOS or EFI (Extensible Firmware Interface) also called UEFI. When you use EFI based systems you use GPT partitions. GPT partitions can address a disk more than 2TB which MBR can not at the moment. This is one of the major reasons of using GPT partitions in EFI based systems.

So when you have BIOS based systems, MBR is used. MBR cannot address >2TB when you have EFI based systems, GPT is used. it can address >2TB.

by systems I mean : server,laptop,desktop.

some systems have the option of using either EFI or BIOS, so you can just go to the what we called BIOS settings in legacy term and change the system's behavior there.

sandeep.s85
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