What Are Logical Volumes?

Logical volumes are collections of pieces of disk space from one or more disks. Each collection is put together so that it appears to the operating system like a single disk.

Like disks, logical volumes can be used to hold file systems, raw data areas, dump areas, or swap areas. Unlike disks, the size of a logical volume can be chosen when the logical volume is created and a logical volume can later be expanded or reduced. Also, logical volumes can be spread across multiple disks.