A Partitioning scheme frequently used in PC DOS computers.
Master Boot Record Code
Drives that use the MBR partitioning scheme will have a master boot record in their first sector. The master boot record includes information about the installed operating systems and how to boot it.
Partition Table
A table that includes the # of partitions and size of partitions on the disk. The MBR partition table supports only 4 partitions max. After the MBR code finds the partition with the OS, the partition boot sector loads that OS.
Partition Types
Primary Partitions
Partitions for bootable operating systems.
These show up in windows like:
C:/
D:/
…
Z:/
The MBR code knows which OS is the main one, as the main partition will have a active flag to signify its the main OS.
GRUB allows us to configure this active flag to change the OS to boot into
Extended Partitions
Partitions that should not be bootable.
These can contain logical drives which are also assigned letters.
Hidden Partition
A primary partition that is hidden from your OS. Most commonly used for backups
Swap Partition
Partitions on your drive, designated to be used as RAM when your system needs more RAM.