# Mounting a New Disk on Linux

*(in my case:* ***a 140 GB disk****)*

When working on cloud servers - whether in Oracle Cloud, AWS, or your own bare-metal rigs - it’s common to attach additional block volumes for more storage. In this guide, we’ll walk through mounting a fresh **140 GB** disk at a custom directory so it’s ready for your data and persists across reboots.

## 1\. Identify the New Disk

First, list your block devices:

bash

```bash
lsblk
```

In my case the new disk appeared as `/dev/sdb` and is **140 GB** in size:

Code

```bash
NAME    MAJ:MIN RM  SIZE RO TYPE MOUNTPOINTS
sda       8:0    0 46.6G  0 disk 
├─sda1    8:1    0 45.6G  0 part /
├─sda15   8:15   0   99M  0 part /boot/efi
└─sda16 259:0    0  923M  0 part /boot
sdb       8:16   0  140G  0 disk
```

## 2\. Partition the Disk

If it’s completely unformatted, create a partition table and one primary partition:

bash

```bash
sudo fdisk /dev/sdb
```

Inside `fdisk`:

* Press `n` → `p` → accept defaults
    
* Press `w` to save changes
    

## 3\. Format the Partition

bash

```bash
sudo mkfs.ext4 /dev/sdb1
```

💡 Replace `sdb1` with your actual partition name.

## 4\. Create a Mount Point

Even though you can mount into `/etc/data`, best practice is to use `/mnt/data` or `/data` for clarity:

bash

```bash
sudo mkdir -p /mnt/data
```

## 5\. Mount the Partition

bash

```bash
sudo mount /dev/sdb1 /mnt/data
```

## 6\. Make the Mount Persistent

Find the UUID:

bash

```bash
sudo blkid /dev/sdb1
```

Edit `/etc/fstab`:

plaintext

```bash
UUID=abcd-1234-...   /mnt/data   ext4   defaults   0   2
```

Test it:

bash

```bash
sudo mount -a
```

## 📌 Final Thoughts

* Mount points under `/mnt` or `/data` keep the system layout predictable and reduce risk of breaking config-related directories.
    
* Always double-check `fstab` entries before rebooting - a wrong mount configuration can block the boot process.
    
* In this real-world example, we mounted a **140 GB** disk, but the same process applies to any size.