# How to determine if a device is Local or SAN in Linux
I\'m just going to list a bunch of safe commands you can run to probe
the system to determine what you are working with.
## lsscsi
lsscsi
: list scsi
::: {#cb1}
[root@server]# lsscsi
[0:0:0:0] disk IBM-ESXS ST973452SS B623 -
[0:0:1:0] disk IBM-ESXS ST973452SS B623 -
[0:1:3:0] disk LSILOGIC Logical Volume 3000 /dev/sda
[3:0:0:0] disk 3PARdata VV 0000 /dev/sdb
[5:0:0:0] disk 3PARdata VV 0000 /dev/sdc
[root@server]# lsscsi -H
[0] mptsas
[1] ata_piix
[2] ata_piix
[3]
[4]
[5]
[6]
[root@server]# lsscsi -g
[0:0:0:0] disk IBM-ESXS ST973452SS B623 - /dev/sg0
[0:0:1:0] disk IBM-ESXS ST973452SS B623 - /dev/sg1
[0:1:3:0] disk LSILOGIC Logical Volume 3000 /dev/sda /dev/sg2
[3:0:0:0] disk 3PARdata VV 0000 /dev/sdb /dev/sg3
[5:0:0:0] disk 3PARdata VV 0000 /dev/sdc /dev/sg4
:::
## ls /dev/disk
::: {#cb2}
[root@server]# ls -hal /dev/disk/by-path/
total 0
drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 180 Jan 11 2012 .
drwxr-xr-x 6 root root 120 Jan 11 2012 ..
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 9 Jan 11 2012 ide-0:0 -> ../../hda
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 9 Jan 11 2012 pci-0000:04:00.0-scsi-0:1:3:0 -> ../../sda
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 10 Jan 11 2012 pci-0000:04:00.0-scsi-0:1:3:0-part1 -> ../../sda1
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 10 Jan 11 2012 pci-0000:04:00.0-scsi-0:1:3:0-part2 -> ../../sda2
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 10 Jan 11 2012 pci-0000:04:00.0-scsi-0:1:3:0-part3 -> ../../sda3
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 9 Jan 11 2012 pci-0000:06:00.0-fc-0x21110002ac0008b4:0x0000000000000000 -> ../../sdc
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 9 Jan 11 2012 pci-0000:2a:00.0-fc-0x20110002ac0008b4:0x0000000000000000 -> ../../sdb
:::
::: {#cb3}
[root@server]# ls -hal /dev/disk/by-id/
total 0
drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 140 Jan 11 2012 .
drwxr-xr-x 6 root root 120 Jan 11 2012 ..
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 9 Jan 11 2012 scsi-350002ac0343408b4 -> ../../sdb
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 9 Jan 11 2012 scsi-3600508e000000000cbd00903176ab80b -> ../../sda
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 10 Jan 11 2012 scsi-3600508e000000000cbd00903176ab80b-part1 -> ../../sda1
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 10 Jan 11 2012 scsi-3600508e000000000cbd00903176ab80b-part2 -> ../../sda2
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 10 Jan 11 2012 scsi-3600508e000000000cbd00903176ab80b-part3 -> ../../sda3
:::
## blkid
::: {#cb4}
[root@server]# blkid
/dev/mapper/vg00-lv02: UUID="520d3a30-a118-4373-a190-7c6cbfc341df" SEC_TYPE="ext2" TYPE="ext3"
/dev/mapper/vg00-lv03: UUID="1de15bdc-e56c-4ae1-98c6-9b4508675225" SEC_TYPE="ext2" TYPE="ext3"
/dev/mapper/vg00-lv04: UUID="0e7d6223-689b-4f0d-b24d-3b89fe07ea63" SEC_TYPE="ext2" TYPE="ext3"
/dev/mapper/vg00-lv06: UUID="b92c1864-a23b-4b5f-ba4b-5672b279c200" SEC_TYPE="ext2" TYPE="ext3"
/dev/mapper/vg00-lv05: UUID="5f8cf0b5-aae1-4aaa-bf4c-fc64b3a0f499" SEC_TYPE="ext2" TYPE="ext3"
/dev/mapper/vg00-lv01: UUID="fd84dcfb-c2b6-4848-b26f-77714313729b" SEC_TYPE="ext2" TYPE="ext3"
/dev/vg00/lv01: UUID="fd84dcfb-c2b6-4848-b26f-77714313729b" SEC_TYPE="ext2" TYPE="ext3"
/dev/fioa1: UUID="afd10bb6-d937-4bf7-bc2c-dcd7ff256fe9" SEC_TYPE="ext2" TYPE="ext3"
/dev/mapper/vg01-lvol0: UUID="75aaa9e7-33b8-4037-a919-33ff57662136" SEC_TYPE="ext2" TYPE="ext3"
/dev/sda1: LABEL="/boot" UUID="4a68f1c6-ad6c-40fb-a0b9-083931ae5ec4" SEC_TYPE="ext2" TYPE="ext3"
/dev/sda2: LABEL="SWAP-sda2" TYPE="swap"
/dev/md0: UUID="afd10bb6-d937-4bf7-bc2c-dcd7ff256fe9" SEC_TYPE="ext2" TYPE="ext3"
/dev/fiob1: UUID="afd10bb6-d937-4bf7-bc2c-dcd7ff256fe9" SEC_TYPE="ext2" TYPE="ext3"
:::
## multipath
::: {#cb5}
[root@server]# multipath -l
mpath0 (350002ac0343408b4) dm-6 3PARdata,VV
[size=100G][features=1 queue_if_no_path][hwhandler=0]
\_ round-robin 0 [prio=0][active]
\_ 3:0:0:0 sdb 8:16 [active][undef]
\_ 5:0:0:0 sdc 8:32 [active][undef]
# also look at multipath -v3
:::
## check for multipath software
- Does */etc/multipath.conf* exist?
- On redhat / fedora / centos run the following command and review any
output:
::: {#cb6}
[root@server]# rpm -qa | grep multip
device-mapper-multipath-0.4.7-17.el5
:::
- On debian / ubuntu run the following command and review any output:
::: {#cb7}
[root@server]# sudo dpkg --get-selections | grep multip
multipath-tools install
:::
## df and lvm
Use df to learn about currently mounted devices, select an interesting
mount and investigate:
::: {#cb8}
[root@server]# df
Filesystem 1K-blocks Used Available Use% Mounted on
...
/dev/mapper/vg01-lvol0
103208224 46826088 51139464 48% /disk1
...
:::
Determine which volume group this this logical volume is part of:
::: {#cb9}
[root@server]# lvm lvdisplay /dev/mapper/vg01-lvol0
--- Logical volume ---
LV Name /dev/vg01/lvol0
VG Name vg01
LV Size 100.00 GB
...
:::
Determine which physical volume this volume group (vg01) is part of:
::: {#cb10}
[root@server]# lvm pvdisplay
--- Physical volume ---
PV Name /dev/dm-6
VG Name vg01
PV Size 100.00 GB / not usable 4.00 MB
...
:::
Look closer at /dev/mpath:
[root@server]# ls -hal /dev/mpath
total 0
drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 60 Jan 11 2012 .
drwxr-xr-x 15 root root 4.0K Mar 22 08:11 ..
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 7 Jan 11 2012 350002ac0343408b4 -> ../dm-6
350002ac0343408b4 relates to the following:
::: {#cb12}
[root@server]# multipath -l
mpath0 (350002ac0343408b4) dm-6 3PARdata,VV
[size=100G][features=1 queue_if_no_path][hwhandler=0]
\_ round-robin 0 [prio=0][active]
\_ 3:0:0:0 sdb 8:16 [active][undef]
\_ 5:0:0:0 sdc 8:32 [active][undef]
:::
3PARdata is not local, its a SAN.
---
**Source:** [https://foxhop.net/f3cb90db-2f95-11f1-91d9-e86a64d24d78/local-or-san-device-in-linux](https://foxhop.net/f3cb90db-2f95-11f1-91d9-e86a64d24d78/local-or-san-device-in-linux)
**Snapshot:** 2026-10-16T05:22:16Z
**Generator:** Remarkbox `d747782`