HP-UX System Administrator's Guide: Overview

/usr/sbin
Contains dynamically linked non-essential commands used
to administer the system once it is in multiuser mode. These
commands are available only when the file system that
contains them is mounted.
/var
“var” stands for variable. This directory (usually associated
with a mountable file system) contains variable data; that
is, files that need to change as the system is running (for
example, log files that need to be written to).
/var/opt/product
Some optional products, when added to a server, create
subdirectories under the directory /var/opt to store
product specific information.
/var/tmp The /var/tmp directory is a temporary scratch directory,
preferred over the /tmp directory after the system has been
booted (primarily because /var is the intended location
for transient data and temporary data is by definition
transient).
As with the /tmp directory, /var/tmp should only be used
for temporary files (files that are not intended to be stored
for long periods of time and files that are not essential).
Unlike /tmp, /var/tmp files are not usually removed
during system startup, but when (or whether) files in either
of the tmp directories are removed is configurable and
installation specific.
Storage on HP-UX
Of all the resources managed by any operating system, arguably the most important
is storage. Storage is a generic term referring to devices that store data. Storage can
take many forms, including:
• Physical disk drives locally attached to a server:
— SCSI hardware protocol disks
— Fibre Channel disks
— USB 2.0 disks
• Drive enclosures containing multiple physical disks locally attached to a server
• Disk arrays (drive enclosures as with the previous item but with a disk controller
added to the enclosure to manage disks within the enclosure) attached locally to
a server (sometimes called JBODs—for Just a Bunch Of Disks—and sometimes
called RAIDs—for Redundant Arrays of Inexpensive Disks)
• Storage Area Networks (SANs), physical disks or disk arrays as above, but
configured and accessed through a special high speed network. SAN storage can
be physically near the servers accessing it or physically distant for disaster
48 Major Components of HP-UX