Benefits of LVM compared to standard partitioning

[Brief-Wishbone]

TL;DR

Logical Volume Management in Linux.

https://www.linuxtechi.com/how-to-create-lvm-partition-in-linux/
So far, I followed this tutorial and did the steps told there. But it doesn't make me realize the importance of LVMs. What can I do to realize the importance of LVMs compared to partitioning? What's that that partitioning can't do but LVMs can do? I want to observe that. Can you guide me towards any tutorials of such?

 

[pbuk]

If you don't know what LVM does, you almost certainly don't want it.

 

[PeterDonis]

If you don't know what LVM does, you almost certainly don't want it.

You might get it without realizing it since many Linux distros default to LVM in their installers. I actually don't think there's much difference for most users; LVM has been around a long time and that code in the Linux kernel is pretty mature. So my response would be "if you don't know what LVM does, you almost certainly don't need to even think about it".

 

[PeterDonis]

What can I do to realize the importance of LVMs compared to partitioning?

The main advantage for Linux distro maintainers is given at the start of the article:

LVM stands for Logical Volume Management, it is the recommended way to manage disk or storage on Linux systems specially for servers. One of the main advantages of LVM partition is that we can extend its size online without any downtime.

In other words, Linux servers benefit from LVM because of automatic resizing without downtime; resizing happens often enough on servers that that's a significant benefit. Ordinary individual Linux users don't really benefit from LVM per se, because your desktop system's disk volumes will probably never need to be resized (they'll already take up your entire disk and when you get low on disk space you'll be buying a new system anyway); but since Linux distros keep everything as standardized as possible, once LVM becomes the default for servers, it automatically becomes the default for desktops as well. Since there's no real downside to that for desktop users, that is what has ended up happening.

 

[PeterDonis]

"if you don't know what LVM does, you almost certainly don't need to even think about it".

A corollary to this would be "if you don't know what LVM does, you almost certainly don't want to try doing it by hand; let your distro's installer take care of it". The only reason for a desktop user to do it by hand would be learning and curiosity.

 

[Vanadium 50]

The only reason for a desktop user to do it by hand would be learning and curiosity.

Excitement!