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mikenh
December 11th, 2017, 11:37 PM
Just completed a new build with two SSD's and I'm starting an install of Ubuntu 16.04. Drive one (sda) for / and swap and /home and the 2nd drive (sdb) for backups of /home, and future warehouse storage of photos and videos. In trying to create a partition for backups on sdb none of the mount points seem suitable since I can't have two /home partitions. Which to choose? /usr/local or /var or is there another choice?

oldfred
December 12th, 2017, 12:25 AM
I now only use gpt for partitioning whether BIOS or UEFI.
And I use /mnt/data for all my data on HDD but boot from SSD. And link folders back into /home.
If you use /media then it will show just as one entry in Nautilus.
I keep /home as folder inside / (root) as all data is in data partition.

I primarily started using data partition(s) as I was dual booting. Originally XP & Ubuntu, then other flavors of Ubuntu more as tests. But wanted all data in all installs.

Data can be shared without the possible conflicts of user settings being different in different versions. I only copy some settings from one install to the next, normally. But I have to separately back up /home and the /mnt/data partition. Also saves the error of reformating a /home partition accidentally. I never reformat my /mnt/data and just configure / for install.
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2315714
Splitting home directory discussion and details:
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1811198
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1901437
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1734233&highlight=%2Fdata

mikenh
December 12th, 2017, 01:12 AM
Thanks OldFred, but sorry to say but your post is mostly over my newbie but old head. I'm using the manual partitioning on the Installation disc, so there's no /mnt nor /media option, for example. Do I even need to partition the 2nd SSD at this point? Can I mount it later w/o partitioning and use a directory structure to separate and organize files?

yancek
December 12th, 2017, 02:13 AM
When you use the Something Else 'manual' option and click on free/unallocated space on the second drive (sdb) and then click on the plus + in the lower left of the window you should get a new Edit partition window. On that window you will have an option for Mount point and you can click the drop down arrow and enter whatever you want; /mnt/data as an example. You can leave this and just do the install and then after the installation, you should be able to use the gparted partition manager from the installed Ubuntu to create partitions and mount points for backups or whatever you want. A sample of the edit partition window is on the page at the link below, scroll about half way down.

http://www.itzgeek.com/how-tos/linux/ubuntu-how-tos/install-ubuntu-16-04-with-screenshots.html

oldfred
December 12th, 2017, 05:30 AM
Best to partition, those that use drive unpartitioned often have issue. Most tools expect partitions.

GPT Advantages (older 2010 but still valid) see post#2 by srs5694:
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1457901
https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/GUID_Partition_Table#Advantages_of_GPT
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unified_Extensible_Firmware_Interface

More info on partitioning.
MBR(for BIOS) or gpt(for UEFI) partitions:
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/DiskSpace
Basics of partitions old BIOS info:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disk_partitioning
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/HowtoPartition
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/PartitioningSchemes

If you use Linux format you will have to give yourself ownership & permissions to read/write into it.
You /home if a separate partition, is automatically set with ownership & permissions. And mounted in fstab for your use.

mikenh
December 12th, 2017, 02:45 PM
Thank you, Yancek, that's exactly what I needed. I just didn't perceive that I could enter a path in the box, nor could I find a comparable partition recommendation among all the dual-boot scenarios.