I'm installing Linux on my PlayStation 2 and I have to partiton the drive. There is no auto partition and I'm not really sure about how much space to give to each directory. I know that the purpose of partitions are so a hacker (or dumb user) can't fill up the whole hard drive, but there must be more to it than that, or Linux would do the partitions automatically every time, right?

The drive is 40 Gb and I am trying to turn the PS2 into a server, if any of that makes a difference.

I guess I'm getting old, but using a PS2 as a server...

Why not.

When you say server, what type of content are you planning to serve?

A little more info would help. (Maybe I'm totally off here and someone else knows exactly why you would be using PS2 as a linux server)

Sometimes I think I shouldn't mention my PS2 as people always want to ask questions, but as long someone answers my partition question, I'm happy.

A few years back, Sony wanted to get the average Joe hooked on programming for the PS2 so (hopefully) more development systems would be sold. A development system is very, very expensive and is not something the average individual would by to "play with." Thus, they made an offically licenced Linux kit.

They say the Xbox is faster than a PS2, but I figure the PS2 is better suited for a server since got a 128 bit processor and would be better suited for handling a bunch of requests at one time. I'm planning on serving http/ftp and perhaps using it as a file server to my other computers.

You can check out a page I wrote about PS2 Linux at www.TravisDart.com/linux/ps2 , but I have learned much in the last month, and it is in need of revision. I'll get around to that once I get Linux installed, but before I do that I have to get this question answered.

So, does anyone know about partitioning?

Partitioning is just an easier way to organize things.

If your going to make it a webserver, its a good idea to create a seperate parition for /var . That way if someone floods you with a DOS attack that fills up the /var partition it won't bring the whole server down to its knees.

I know little about Linux, but I've had luck using Linux as a "workstation" on a PC just putting a 1GB or so swap partition then fill the rest up with a / "root" partition. No problems so far.

yea, i'd just leave it as swap and /
i ran into trouble making seperate partitions for /root /var and /usr once, /var ran out of space because i didnt know what it was for....lol, its funny now, but now i just put everything under one big / partition so that it doesnt matter where i put things, it all shares the space.....i felt pretty dumb running out of space on /var with like 30GB free on the whole harddrive.

hehe how big did you make the /var partition? I'm skating on thin ice here. I only have 2Gb left on / .

Thanks, everyone. I got it partitioned, but I'm not quite sure I've got the proportions right. How do you figure out that? If it's easy to figure out, why doesn't someone make a JavaScript partition calculator?

You talk about running out of space on the partitions. Can't you make the partitions bigger after you've written to them? And what happens if I run out of swap space?

The easiest method (and not necessarily the best method) is to
just create 2 partitions.

I tend to agree with lectraplayer and Robert0380 as far as this being the failsafe approach. I used only 2 partitions myself.

If you want a separate '/var' partition to protect your disk from getting full then do it that way.

If you take the 2 partition route, it will look something like this:
hda1 = /swap
hda2 = / (root)

or 3 partitions :
hda1 = /swap
hda2 = /var (I'm not sure about size here, maybe 5-10Gb)
hda3 = /

And in your case, since a playstation does not have a ton of ram, you may want to go with a /swap partition 1-2Gb . I am guessing that it will probably get alot of use, so it may be best to put /swap first on the disk (hda1).
However, just to experiment, I have put my /swap partition on the end of my drive. It's pretty irrelevant though because I have 512Mb's of ram and 'top' tells me that /swap hardly ever gets used.


JC

I assume by your wide range of memory sizes (5-10 Gb, 1-2 Gb) that you are more or less estimating by taking the normal use and adding a gigabyte or two to it. I guess there isn't a set formula. Maybe someone should figure this out in rules and percentages.

Thank you.

What I am saying is that you have to determine those values.
If I were doing it, I would make a 2 partition disk, and not worry about the '/var' directory getting full.Then again, I like to live dangerously. But if I did want it separate, I would probably ditch the 40Gb drive, and slap a >=100Gb drive in there. I would make '/var' 15Gb . If I had to use the 40Gb, then I would make '/var' 5Gb . I might even try using an external drive on the PS2's USB port.

The '/var' directory contains log files which often get written to. Some directories that are inside of '/var' are 'log', 'mail', 'spool', and 'tmp'.

Get the idea yet ? The '/var' directory will grow, especially if you get bombed in the '/mail' directory like Crashed_Again suggested might happen. So you decide what you think is best.

As for the '/swap' partition, I would make mine 2Gb. It doesn't hurt to have a little extra disk for the swap file.

Pick some numbers and go man ! It's your server.
If you want to be adventurous,shoot a little lower than the recommended swap file and measure your performance.
If you're super lazy, then make the '/var' directory bigger.
I believe you should take the loose and wreckless approach sometimes.But if you're not wanting to dick around with it, go with the safe numbers.

Keep in mind that the above post is just my opinion, and you'll get plenty of opinions in this forum.

JC

Ok, thanks. I might have made my /var directory a little too small, but I plan on archiving the mail and logs on a regualr basis.

I would like to have a bigger hard drive, but only a proprietary 40-GB HD will work (or so they say). 40 GB is 4 times bigger than my other HD, though. I'm still not used to the space.

Really ? Have you had a look at it ? I thought that they were just ATA disks. I'd like to know what they are though.
40Gb definitely ain't bad. You should get pretty far with that disk until it's time to think about more storage.

If you can have a look inside and determine if the drive is IDE or SCSI, please post what you find.

JC

My hard drive is a Maxtor 4D040H2, which appears to be a normal ATA drive. Sony might have done something to it after it came from the factory, though.

Really, I think the "proprietary hard drive" might just be a gimmick to sell a hard drive along with everything else. I don't know, though. I might like to play with a different hard drive sometime to see if it's truly a proprietary drive. Or, better yet, maybe someone else should.