  Disk Partitioning? 
 The Question is:
 
Is it possible to install OpenVMS on a specific drive partition, and how is
 represented a partition of a drive ?
 
 The Answer is :
 
  Hardware partitioning can permit multiple operating systems per
  spindle, with the specifics being controller-specific.
 
  OpenVMS does not support software-based partitioning of disk drives,
  akin to what is seen on Windows and IA-32 Linux.
 
  Various Freeware packages can be used to provide a form of logical
  disk partitioning within an OpenVMS system disk (or a data disk)
  ODS-2 or ODS-5 disk volume structure, but the OpenVMS bootstrap
  drivers assume that the entire volume is a contiguous unit under
  the control of the OpenVMS file structure.  These partitioning
  schemes typically create a container file within the OpenVMS ODS-2
  or ODS-5 file structure, and then use device drivers to access the
  contents of the container file.
 
  Given the dropping price of disk drives and (unlike the BIOS
  "console" found on many low-end systems) given the ability of the
  typical VAX or Alpha console to bootstrap directly off a specified
  disk device, the OpenVMS Wizard does not particularly expect to
  see disk partitioning support implemented within OpenVMS.  This
  is not, however, the first time that the OpenVMS Wizard has heard
  what could be interpreted as a request to add this capability.
 
 Answer written or last revised on  25-FEB-2002 
