Making Partitions: How big, how many, what kind?
I have 75 gigs that I would like to split and use for Linux. I've done some research on this, but I just want to confirm a few things before I continue.
Should I make ext2 or ext3 partitions? I can vaguely remember seeing something about a '/' directory and a 'home' directory during the last installation. I chose to install everything to one partition. Now I would like to put the OS on one partition and the programs and everything else on another. How much space should I reserve for the OS, or "home" partition? Or is it called "/"? :( Grr... Dang confusing programmer terms... And... I think that's it. If you know of an EASY to read tutorial about this, please post it. However, your personal help would be greatly appreciated. |
Here are some good guides.
Preparing to install Linux: # Choosing a Linux Distribution: Will your hardware work? Do you have good RAM? Memtest86 - A Stand-alone Memory Diagnostic A Beginner's Guide to Choosing a Linux Distribution Reasons to Choose or Not Choose Linux LWN distro list elinux Linux Distributions # Freeware tools for partitioning/resizing hard drive partitions: Any Linux Live CD usually have fdisk, cfdisk and other tools available Ranish Partition Manager # Understanding Linux Filesystem layout: Directory Navigation Help File Filesystems, Directories, and Devices Help File Proper Filesystem Layout Advanced filesystem implementor's guide (requires registration) My /etc/fstab file (for FC1) for a working example: Code:
# Duron 950 Fedora Core 1 uilleann /etc/fstab file |
Here is a pretty easy to follow Mandrake install...
http://www.neolinkcomputers.com/newb...installing.htm How to partition your drive is a hotly debated issue only surpassed buy which distrobution to install. KC |
Here is my Gentoo /etc/fstab which I took the time to figure out exactly what I wanted partition wise:
Code:
# Duron 950 Gentoo uilleann /etc/fstab file: static file system information. Code:
Fri May 13 02:28 AM root@uilleann ~ # df -h hdc1 is in a removable ide box that fits in one of the 5-1/2" places in the box, just above my DVD-RW drive and 3 drives that I have some important stuff on, like my backups and .wav recordings of my fave music (almost fills another 160 GB drive), plus an 80 gig drive for stuff I need when working on those Microsoft operating systems. |
Thanks a lot for the very educational replies!
On ext3 partitions I'm going to do the following: * Make one partition that's 5 gigs for my / * Make one partition that's 70 gigs for my /home |
Don't forget to make a swap partition as well as it will be more efficient than a swap file.
For a server, it is essential, if a personal workstation with lots of ram, you can probably get by without one. I made a 1 gig swap partition (probably much more than I need because it seldom gets touched) Code:
Fri May 13 03:50 AM root@uilleann ~ # free |
On my site, I explain how I do it and why:
http://yves.gablin.club.fr/pc/linux....fig/partitions But for a serious server machine, you have to have more partitions. Yves. |
Here is what i did for my pcs
For a personal computer ( 256 Mb of memory ) Swap 512 Mb / the rest For a server Swap depends on ur memory ( must be equal or twice as your memory ) / 200 Mo /tmp 150 Mo /var 300 Mo /usr 2 Go /home 100 Mo per user |
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Don't fall into the trap of thinking you should partition & format the whole drive right at the start. When I first formatted my 80GB drive, it was like this: /boot = 50mb / = 5gb /home = 5gb The rest of the drive was untouched. Since / used about 2gig and /home less than one, it would have been pointless adding any other partitions. And when I wanted to try new distros, I just created a new 5gig partition for the new / and installed it. In fact, I had 4 distros all at once, at one point, and it was never difficult to install them. Eventually, I switched to gentoo, which tends to need a lot of space because of the source code & the files it generates when compiling, which I don't often bother to delete. So I resized / to 20gig - really easy because I had so much space spare. I also ripped my entire CD collection onto my HD, for which I added a new /mp3 partition. If I'd paritioned the whole drive at once, this would all have been a big headache. By only making small partitions as & when I needed them, it was blissfully easy to chop & change them as and when I needed to. I still have 20-odd gig unpartitioned, because I have no use for it. If you don't NEED the space, leave it alone. That way, when you DO need it, it's really easy to put it where you want it. Resizing partitions is a PITA compared to just creating a new one. |
Let me make sure I'm following...
/ is where the operating system is installed /home is where the program files and your data go the swap partition is for swap stuffs the boot partition is for the boot stuffs How about this setup? / (5 gig) /home (69 gig) /boot (50mb) swap (512mb) Thanks a lot for the help with this. I'm almost ready to give Mandrake another try. ^_^ And nice tutorial page, theYinYeti. |
almost every program you are going to install if it is not firefox like(unzip and ready to go) will be in /
some you might want less for your home partition and more in /usr unless all you do using few programs and downloading few gigs of music,movies,etc... |
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I'm almost ready to begin backing up, repartitioning, and reinstalling. I just need to make sure I understand everything first, and learn how to backup my program/os settings. |
/home is only for software that you only want that user to have. Everything else goes in the root filesystem so everyone ca use it. /usr/bin is a popular choice. . .
Seriously: Create some small partitions now, leave the rest of the space unused, and then re-partiton a few months down the line when you know where the space will be needed. So long as you're only making educated guesses about what your space requirements will be, you can gaurantee you won't guess right & will have to re-partition somewhere down the line. Quote:
/ (2gig) /usr/bin (3 gig) |
Are you certain that you want that partition /usr/bin rather than /usr?
Again, this is worth a read: Proper Filesystem Layout |
Good point: /usr will probably be a better catch-all than just /usr/bin
But that still leaves the /sbin apps, if he really wants to keep all executables on their own partition, of course. . . |
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