Ubuntu 18.04.1 - Installation partitions scheme assistance

[pardeep.saini]

Hello,
I'm going to install Ubuntu as my only OS, but I need help with the partitions scheme.
I have an SSD + HDD configuration, the SSD is 250GB and the HDD is 1TB.

After some searching I think this might be a "good" (not sure if actually good https://ubuntuforums.org/images/icons/icon11.png) partition scheme, but I'll like to have a confirm:
SSD
/boot > 512MB
/ > rest of the SSD
HDD
/swap > 16GB (PC has 16GB of RAM)
/var > 16GB
/home > rest of the HDD

Thanks.

[sp40140]

I suggest you let installer take care of everything. You don't really have to put /boot and /var and /home on different partitions. And as to swap, forget it, no need to swap partition at all. let installer create a 2gig swapfile, it is more than enough.
If you really want to have different partitions, you can give about 35gigs to / and rest of the ssd to /home. And mount the HDD to some other location.
It's simpler and easy to maintain.
I tell you this as you ask about the partition scheme. If you have to ask, keep it simple. If you know what/why, in that case make it complex and this forum will help with "how" of it.

[pardeep.saini]

The whole target of the partition scheme I'm trying to achieve is to avoid unneccesary SSD wear, so reading online they suggested to put /var and /swap on the HDD to decrease SSD wear.

If I decide to go without /swap partition where will the swapfile will be created? on the SSD or the HDD?
Is the swapfile a new thing? I haven't read about it before, I thought there was always a /swap partition.

So if I'm right the scheme you are suggesting is:
SSD
/ > 35GB
/home > rest of the SSD
HDD
some other location > what does that mean?

[sp40140]

The whole target of the partition scheme I'm trying to achieve is to avoid unneccesary SSD wear, so reading online they suggested to put /var and /swap on the HDD to decrease SSD wear.

If I decide to go without /swap partition where will the swapfile will be created? on the SSD or the HDD?
Is the swapfile a new thing? I haven't read about it before, I thought there was always a /swap partition.

So if I'm right the scheme you are suggesting is:
SSD
/ > 35GB
/home > rest of the SSD
HDD
some other location > what does that mean?

if you don't create /swap, installer will automatically create a swap file.
The location, check out this link: https://askubuntu.com/questions/904628/default-17-04-swap-file-location

/ you can make it as big as you want, I prefer to keep it around 35 - 40 gigs.
HDD on other location : just that you can mount it on other location.

The /swap partition is from the time past when systems didn't have much RAM. These days if you have anything more than 6 gig of ram, swap is not required at all. However, in some rare cases few application do require swap (either file or partition) even if there is enough ram. This is the reason, Ubuntu installer by default doesn't create swap partition (and doesn't ask for it) but just silently creates 2GB swap file automatically.

[oldfred]

I have same SSD & HDD sizes. But do not have large data requirements, so have several / (root) partitions and a shared /mnt/data partition. The backup partition is not really a true backup as it is just a copy at a point in time. My backups are then to DVDs & flash drives and other PCs. I boot ISO directly from grub so have separate partition on each drive for install to other drive. And drives are not yet fully allocated.


fred@Bionic-Z170N:~$ sudo parted -l
[sudo] password for fred:
Model: ATA Samsung SSD 850 (scsi)
Disk /dev/sda: 250GB
Sector size (logical/physical): 512B/512B
Partition Table: gpt
Disk Flags:

Number Start End Size File system Name Flags
1 1049kB 53.5GB 53.5GB fat32 ESP boot, esp
2 53.5GB 86.0GB 32.5GB ext4 xenial
4 86.0GB 113GB 27.3GB ext4 bionic
3 228GB 250GB 22.0GB ext4 ISO


Model: ATA HGST HTS721010A9 (scsi)
Disk /dev/sdb: 1000GB
Sector size (logical/physical): 512B/4096B
Partition Table: gpt
Disk Flags:

Number Start End Size File system Name Flags
1 1049kB 536MB 535MB fat32 EFI System Partition boot, esp
2 52.5GB 85.0GB 32.5GB ext4 bionic_b
5 85.0GB 118GB 32.5GB ext4 server
6 118GB 443GB 325GB ext4 data
4 786GB 945GB 158GB ext4 backup_b
3 945GB 998GB 53.5GB ext4 ISO_b
7 998GB 1000GB 2202MB linux-swap(v1)

[pardeep.saini]

I have same SSD & HDD sizes. But do not have large data requirements, so have several / (root) partitions and a shared /mnt/data partition. The backup partition is not really a true backup as it is just a copy at a point in time. My backups are then to DVDs & flash drives and other PCs. I boot ISO directly from grub so have separate partition on each drive for install to other drive. And drives are not yet fully allocated.


fred@Bionic-Z170N:~$ sudo parted -l
[sudo] password for fred:
Model: ATA Samsung SSD 850 (scsi)
Disk /dev/sda: 250GB
Sector size (logical/physical): 512B/512B
Partition Table: gpt
Disk Flags:

Number Start End Size File system Name Flags
1 1049kB 53.5GB 53.5GB fat32 ESP boot, esp
2 53.5GB 86.0GB 32.5GB ext4 xenial
4 86.0GB 113GB 27.3GB ext4 bionic
3 228GB 250GB 22.0GB ext4 ISO


Model: ATA HGST HTS721010A9 (scsi)
Disk /dev/sdb: 1000GB
Sector size (logical/physical): 512B/4096B
Partition Table: gpt
Disk Flags:

Number Start End Size File system Name Flags
1 1049kB 536MB 535MB fat32 EFI System Partition boot, esp
2 52.5GB 85.0GB 32.5GB ext4 bionic_b
5 85.0GB 118GB 32.5GB ext4 server
6 118GB 443GB 325GB ext4 data
4 786GB 945GB 158GB ext4 backup_b
3 945GB 998GB 53.5GB ext4 ISO_b
7 998GB 1000GB 2202MB linux-swap(v1)

It is a bit complicated for me to understand all of the configurations that you have done.
Basically, if I'm not wrong, you have SSD for / (root) and HDD for data?


if you don't create /swap, installer will automatically create a swap file.
The location, check out this link: https://askubuntu.com/questions/904628/default-17-04-swap-file-location

/ you can make it as big as you want, I prefer to keep it around 35 - 40 gigs.
HDD on other location : just that you can mount it on other location.

The /swap partition is from the time past when systems didn't have much RAM. These days if you have anything more than 6 gig of ram, swap is not required at all. However, in some rare cases few application do require swap (either file or partition) even if there is enough ram. This is the reason, Ubuntu installer by default doesn't create swap partition (and doesn't ask for it) but just silently creates 2GB swap file automatically.

Thanks for your time and explanations.
I have another question, what is the reason to divide / from /home even if they are both on the SSD, couldn't it be / on entire SSD?
I have also read about symlinks to link SSD /home folders to folders on the HDD, is it somehow similar to mount the HDD on other location?

[oldfred]

The / (root) partition does not need to be large. I keep /home inside / only for the mostly hidden user settings. I move some large hidden data folders like the Thunderbird & Firefox profiles to my data partition.

If a newer user, easier to have a separate /home and then you can have it on the HDD. One advantage of separating system from data is for backup and then reinstall if issues or new install of newer version. If you want the somewhat more advanced separate data partition and linking you also have to understand mounting, ownership & permissions. The separate /home automatically takes care of that.

But if not using SSD for anything else, your / will only use 10 to 20GB of whatever size partition you make. I currently have used 7.3GB of my 25GB / partition. My older 16.04 install used 13GB. I try to houseclean regularly so logs do not get large and lots of cruft gets removed, but some always seems to stay hidden, so I like new installs. And since I have space, I just install to another 25 or 30GB partition.

[sp40140]

Like OldFred said:
The reason for splitting up / and /home is to keep data and system different. and in the even of crash or other issues, your data is on different partition which is more safe.
You don't have to. I did it for a while some years ago but don't split it anymore.
Different partitions help in enterprise / business environment where data and system needs to have tighter access control and reliability requirements.
For home use, I prefer to keep it as simple as possible. (Unless of course, you want to learn and experiment).

[pardeep.saini]

I think I'll go with this:
SSD
/
/home
HDD
/home folders with symlinks

I'll see in the future if I need to change something.
Thanks to both of you guys.