I've got a 24TB drive (model ASMT ASM235CM) formatted as ext4 without a partition table, and it's currently set up as a loop partition. I'm using it for Plex on Ubuntu Server 24.04.2 LTS. I made a mistake and need to switch it to a GPT partition. Is it safe to do that without losing my data, or should I leave it as is?
1 Answer
You know, technically, you don’t need a partition table just to use the drive in Linux. However, having one is good for compatibility with non-Linux systems. If you can't backup your data somewhere else, it might be best to leave it alone. You could create a GPT table, but you’d first need to shrink the filesystem around to make space for GPT headers, and that can get complicated.
So I shouldn't just run fdisk on /dev/sde to create a GPT and then make a new partition? What’s the real advantage of switching to GPT?