HP-UX 10.x: Where is the bad-block reserve pool kept?

(Cross-post to comp.databases.informix as well as comp.sys.hp.hpux) Hi folks, I recently had to create a new logical volume for use by the database engine. (Using the rlvolxx character special device, of course.) In SAM, I specified "File system" rather than SWAP. I was also prompted if I want to use bad block relocation. Now I have always taken the cowards way out on this one, because I don't know where the bad-block reserve pool is kept. A bad block might be diverted to a block that happens to be in use by the database engine. This would kibosh my database page. Thus, I answer "no" to bad-block relocation. What I really would like to do is answer yes, create the raw logical volume at, say 1024 Meg, but only allocate the final 1000 meg to the database chunk, leaving the first 24 meg as the reserve pool. (These numbers are arbitrary.) I am assuming the reserve pool is kept at the beginning of the logical volume. Q1: Where is the reserve pool of substitute blocks really kept? Q2: How big is each block? A 512-byte block? a 2-K sector? an 8-K cluster? Q3: Is there a way to limit the size of the reserve pool, so that I can be sure of a certain number of addressible blocks in the database chunk? Q4: Does the notion of bad-block relocation even have meaning on a raw logical volume? Thanks for definitive answers. (HP support mailed me a ream of interesting info I had to edit to make ledgible but it misses these points.) -- -- Jake (Never yelled "CROWDED THEATER!" during a fire) +------------------------------------------------------------+ | The expedient performance of a task with excessive concern | | regarding its duration-to-completion engenders a virtual | | certainty of diminished benefit therefrom. | | -- Benjamin Franklin (but he said it in 3 words) | +------------------------------------------------------------+