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Recommended partitioning 150GB

Hello,

I would like to partition my 150GB drive the best possible way. I have 1GB memory so the SWAP should be 2GB. I want to be able to keep my documents/images/vids etc whenever I upgrade the distro, so that would mean making a /home partition right?

Something like:
swap 2GB
/ 11gb (not sure how much root has to be anyway)
/home the rest?

What am I missing?

Would be OK.

The separate /home is a must. On such a system following Debian rules I would do:

/: 1 GB
swap: 2GB
/usr: 6 GB
/var: 6 GB
/home: all the rest.

But then again, /var would be happy with 4 GB. You proposal is fine.

jlinkels

How many OS' are you going to have?

Heres my partitions on my old hdd 160GB

Code:

[root@nfluxos64 ~]# fdisk -l



Disk /dev/sda: 160.0 GB, 160041885696 bytes

255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 19457 cylinders

Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes

Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes

I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes

Disk identifier: 0x8f800200



  Device Boot      Start        End      Blocks  Id  System

/dev/sda1              1        3533    28378791  83  Linux

/dev/sda2  *        3534        5670    17165452+  83  Linux

/dev/sda3            5671      10979    42644542+  83  Linux

/dev/sda4          10980      19457    68099473    5  Extended

/dev/sda5          10980      11690    5711044+  83  Linux

/dev/sda6          14602      14930    2642661  82  Linux swap

/dev/sda7          14931      19457    36363096  83  Linux

/dev/sda8          11691      12473    6289416  83  Linux

/dev/sda9          12474      13524    8442126  83  Linux

/dev/sda10          13525      14601    8650971  83  Linux



Partition table entries are not in disk order

but thats cause I'm a distro-hopper and its kinda unorganized

all those distros are installed to /
so, no /home /var or whatever partitions...

if your going to install multiple distros then you should plan ahead...

I like to keep at least one partition strictly for data like music,videos, and any other files I don't want to lose... other than /home. I find it just makes backups and upgrades/distrohopping less worrisome. I've since gone to a file server for those files, but I still keep an unmounted partition on my main system for keeping a mirror of the important data. I also like to keep some unallocated space for future use.

Quote:

Originally Posted by jlinkels (Post 4051303)

Root only 1GB? Why is that?

Quote:

Originally Posted by mrs tux (Post 4054394)

Root only 1GB? Why is that?

Because root only contains /boot, /bin, /etc and a few more. Root takes up about 200MB on an average system. Note that /tmp is on root as well, so if you store large files in /tmp (like me) and never restart (like me) you might run out of space (like me). But that learns you not to store too much in /tmp. /tmp is usually erased at boot so there is not point in keeping files there. anyway.

/var and /usr tend to grow large for logs, archives and application programs.

jlinkels

Hi,

Welcome to LQ!

Quote:

Originally Posted by mrs tux (Post 4051129)

Hello,

I would like to partition my 150GB drive the best possible way. I have 1GB memory so the SWAP should be 2GB. I want to be able to keep my documents/images/vids etc whenever I upgrade the distro, so that would mean making a /home partition right?

Something like:
swap 2GB
/11gb (not sure how much root has to be anyway)
/home the rest?

What am I missing?

Your 'swap' needs shouldn't be that high? Really depends on how you plan on using the system. If large video editing then your 'swap' needs may need to be larger. Normal Desktop usage then the 'swap' of 1 GB would be sufficient.

I do suggest that you keep the 'data' and storage separate from your ''/home'. That way a individual storage system would be available for your usage. If you are going to install Slackware then the recommendation for a full install is 6-8GB typical.

My systems have;

Quote:

this system has multiple installs with separate partitions for spares, '/','/tmp', '/usr', '/var', '/home(s);
~#fdisk -l

Disk /dev/sda: 500.1 GB, 500107862016 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 60801 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk identifier: 0xfdc4297b

Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sda1 * 1 5125 41164800 7 HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sda2 5126 5386 2096482+ 82 Linux swap
/dev/sda3 5387 5781 3172837+ 83 Linux
/dev/sda4 5782 60801 441948150 5 Extended
/dev/sda5 5782 7086 10482381 83 Linux
/dev/sda6 7087 8391 10482381 83 Linux
/dev/sda7 8392 9696 10482381 83 Linux
/dev/sda8 9697 14918 41945683+ 83 Linux
/dev/sda9 14919 17529 20972826 83 Linux
/dev/sda10 17530 17790 2096451 83 Linux
/dev/sda11 17791 19095 10482381 83 Linux
/dev/sda12 19096 26928 62918541 83 Linux
/dev/sda13 26929 34761 62918541 83 Linux
/dev/sda14 34762 42594 62918541 83 Linux
/dev/sda15 42595 60801 146247696 83 Linux

Disk /dev/sdb: 250.1 GB, 250059350016 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 30401 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x5c74ae42

Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sdb1 1 2611 20972826 c W95 FAT32 (LBA)
/dev/sdb2 2612 6527 31455270 83 Linux
/dev/sdb3 6528 9089 20579265 83 Linux
/dev/sdb4 9090 30401 171188640 5 Extended
/dev/sdb5 9090 9587 4000153+ 83 Linux
/dev/sdb6 9588 9719 1060258+ 83 Linux

I do a lot of system work & bench experimentation so spares are setup for just that purpose. If you setup things with some fore thought then a system can be modified without much effort.

Quote:

one of my general use system;
# fdisk -l

Disk /dev/sda: 500.1 GB, 500107862016 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 60801 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Disk identifier: 0xf5b5f5b5

Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sda1 * 1 3824 30716248+ 7 HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sda2 3825 4074 2008125 82 Linux swap
/dev/sda3 4075 10300 50010345 83 Linux
/dev/sda4 10301 60801 405649282+ 5 Extended
/dev/sda5 10301 10425 1004031 83 Linux
/dev/sda6 10426 11671 10008463+ 83 Linux
/dev/sda7 11672 12668 8008371 83 Linux
/dev/sda8 12669 12918 2008093+ 83 Linux
/dev/sda9 12919 13915 8008371 83 Linux
/dev/sda10 13916 15161 10008463+ 83 Linux
/dev/sda11 15162 16407 10008463+ 83 Linux
/dev/sda12 16408 28856 99996561 83 Linux
/dev/sda13 28857 41305 99996561 83 Linux
/dev/sda14 41306 53754 99996561 83 Linux
/dev/sda15 53755 60801 56604996 83 Linux

Disk /dev/sdb: 160.0 GB, 160041885696 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 19457 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Disk identifier: 0xb2214719

Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sdb1 * 1 4981 40009851 7 HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sdb2 4982 9962 40009882+ 83 Linux
amd64s:~# mount
/dev/root on / type ext3 (rw,errors=continue,data=ordered)
proc on /proc type proc (rw)
sysfs on /sys type sysfs (rw)
usbfs on /proc/bus/usb type usbfs (rw)
/dev/sda1 on /mnt/winxp type fuseblk (rw,allow_other,blksize=4096)
/dev/sdb1 on /mnt/winxp2 type fuseblk (rw,allow_other,blksize=4096)
tmpfs on /dev/shm type tmpfs (rw)
/dev/sda3 on /media/-spare1 type ext3 (rw,nosuid,nodev,uhelper=hal)
/dev/sdb2 on /media/Linux_Archive type ext3 (rw,nosuid,nodev,uhelper=hal)
/dev/sda3 on /mnt/hd type ext3 (rw)

The above system is setup for general use and experimentation.
Partition schemes can be very personal and a general form for a desktop with a '/','swap' along with '/home' on separate partitions is the norm. Some people just place '/' on one partition with a 'swap' on another partition.

Server partition schemes are another picture. That to depends on the usage.
A Search here on LQ would get you loads of information on partition schemes. Been asked so many times. :)
:hattip:

I recommend a 100MB /boot in ext2. It comes handy if you would like to encrypt your installation. Moreover if you install on LVM changing sizes should be less painfull. So I recommend the following

sda1 Linux 100MB /boot
sda2 Linux LVM for the rest.

Then you slice up sda2 as the others recommended.

I'm reading the Slackware book atm and read that /usr is where programs, documentation, kernel source and the X window system is stored. Wouldn't 6GB, as jlinkels suggested, be a bit too small?

MrsTux; all of my Slackware installs are at under 3GB
just cause I make 700MB LiveCD's from them
But, i have basically everything except KDE/xfce4, etc

Did you ever get Openbox going?

Quote:

Originally Posted by ChrisAbela (Post 4055440)

This is exactly what I do.

In the LVM pv, I create a 2GB swap volume, a 10GB '/' volume, and a 50GB '/home' volume. I add more space to the '/' and '/home' volumes when I need to.

See README_LVM.txt in the Slackware iso if you're interested in LVM.

Quote:

Originally Posted by mrs tux (Post 4057753)

I'm reading the Slackware book atm and read that /usr is where programs, documentation, kernel source and the X window system is stored. Wouldn't 6GB, as jlinkels suggested, be a bit too small?

I have basically a full install with only the extra kernels removed + a few extra packages installed, and my /usr folder is about 5.1GB.

I think 6GB is a good start, but it might fill up after a while. With LVM this isn't a problem, since you can easily add more space.

Quote:

Originally Posted by linus72 (Post 4057757)

MrsTux; all of my Slackware installs are at under 3GB
just cause I make 700MB LiveCD's from them
But, i have basically everything except KDE/xfce4, etc

Did you ever get Openbox going?

Yes, Openbox works perfect now, thank you.

And everyone else, also thanks for helping me :)