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View Full Version : [ubuntu] Need large hdd partitioning advice.



Baasha
September 28th, 2009, 10:41 PM
I have just built a brand new system with an i5-750 cpu and a 1Tb hard drive. I have read a lot of articles about Linux partitions but they all seem a little dated. With 1Tb of room I am a little unsure of how big to make the partitions.

On my old system 32 bit Ubuntu 8.04 I had an 8Gb / but after several version upgrades the system got clogged up. So on my new 64 bit Jaunty I was thinking of using 15-20 Gb and about 2 Gb for a swap partition. I know the rule of thumb is make swap twice the ram size but I have 4 Gb of ram. Will I ever need more than 2 Gb of swap?

I was also thinking of leaving some room on the drive (in case I don't like the 64 bit version) to install a 32 bit verion. Although I think it unlikely that I won't like the 64 bit, this may be a wise thing to do.

I am looking for comments or suggestions from other large drive users. For instance, I am definitely going to have a separate home partition, but is it worth while having separate partitions for /usr, /var, and /tmp? If so, how big should they be? I know I have lots of space but there is no point wasting it either.

I welcome any and all comments on the above.

raymondh
September 28th, 2009, 10:52 PM
I have just built a brand new system with an i5-750 cpu and a 1Tb hard drive. I have read a lot of articles about Linux partitions but they all seem a little dated. With 1Tb of room I am a little unsure of how big to make the partitions.

On my old system 32 bit Ubuntu 8.04 I had an 8Gb / but after several version upgrades the system got clogged up. So on my new 64 bit Jaunty I was thinking of using 15-20 Gb and about 2 Gb for a swap partition. I know the rule of thumb is make swap twice the ram size but I have 4 Gb of ram. Will I ever need more than 2 Gb of swap?

I was also thinking of leaving some room on the drive (in case I don't like the 64 bit version) to install a 32 bit verion. Although I think it unlikely that I won't like the 64 bit, this may be a wise thing to do.

I am looking for comments or suggestions from other large drive users. For instance, I am definitely going to have a separate home partition, but is it worth while having separate partitions for /usr, /var, and /tmp? If so, how big should they be? I know I have lots of space but there is no point wasting it either.

I welcome any and all comments on the above.

-20GB for root is nice.
-2GB for SWAP is OK. But with that much space, why not make 1x maximum installable RAM (just in case you upgrade later on).
-I find no need for /var unless you have a server and need to view logs regularly.
- /usr depends on your requirements.
- If you plan to multiboot with other distros' (or OS'), I think a /data is better than a /home as different config files may cause havoc. Besides, you can always back-up /home to /data.
- I'm sure your BIOS is up to date. Just note that a HD that big and if you run into error 18, you might want to start considering a /boot. It only requires so little space in front of the drive (250MB is good enough).

As you know by now, Ubuntu does not require it to be in a primary partition. Extended is fine. If you do put a /boot, make that primary. The rest of Ubuntu can be logicals inside an extended.

Have fun and happy ubuntu-ing. Enjoy your new system :)

Regards,

Baasha
September 28th, 2009, 11:58 PM
Thanks for your comments Raymond.

You mentioned having a /data partition, which I was thinking about anyway, but that brings up another question. What would be a prudent size for a /home partition if it is no longer going to be holding all my personal files?

At the moment this is what I am thinking about:
/ 20 Gb
/swap 4 Gb
/home ?
/data 500 Gb

I am beginning to wonder why I bought such a big hd but the price was just too good to pass up :-))

raymondh
September 29th, 2009, 01:27 PM
Thanks for your comments Raymond.

You mentioned having a /data partition, which I was thinking about anyway, but that brings up another question. What would be a prudent size for a /home partition if it is no longer going to be holding all my personal files?

At the moment this is what I am thinking about:
/ 20 Gb
/swap 4 Gb
/home ?
/data 500 Gb

I am beginning to wonder why I bought such a big hd but the price was just too good to pass up :-))

Baasha,

/home .... although no longer holding your personal data/media ... will still hold config files and settings. That is nice to retain should a re-install be required in the future. I think 30GB is ok for /home in this scenario.

Regards,