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GetLinux
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 Posted: Wed Nov 09, 2005 7:16 am Post subject: [solved] Help Designing Partition Scheme: 27GB + 120GB disks |
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Hi. I've installed Linux before (currently have XandrOS installed). I want to switch to Gentoo but need help deciding on a partition scheme.
First, I became ill after installing Xandros. I wasn't on the computer for a really long time, and I can't use their package-management system (I assume because my registration expires?). Also, I can't figure out how to manage .tar and .bz2 files, and Xandros doesn't have the most common shells installed. The man pages for the shells are not complete. I tried to use the man pages because the commands for .tar and .bz2 files didn't seem to work, but found no info on the commands. So I tried because I know the "cd" command works, and the man pages don't find it, even though "cd" works. I couldn't get Firefox and Thunderbird packages to install because I couldn't uncompress them. Therefore, I'll be using stage 3 from the Universal CD because I don't want to try to install a compiler on Xandros. I may compile a new system later. (Backing up current files is not needed...anything I need to keep has already been moved to my Windows box.
HARDWARE:
- Intel Celeron Coppermine processor
- L1 cache: 32k
- L2 cache: 128K
- Memory: 312.56MB
- Chipset: Intel i810
- Current Hard Disk: (not sure where to find all the details in XandrOS, what I remember is below)
- size: 30GB
- speed: 5400rpm
- 2nd Hard Disk (not yet installed):
- Brand: Western Digital
- Size: 120GB
- Speed: 7200rpm, "up to 100MB/s transfer using Ultra ATA/100"
- IDE-ATA interface
- 8MB buffer
- CD-ROM (PC only) (??? Does this mean you can use this hard disk as a CD-ROM drive? I'm confused!)
*****************************************
Standard Recommendations:
I did a search on "partition scheme" and read related posts, they gave me a little info. And yes, I've read the 2005.1 documentation and some other docs. I understand the minimum recommended partitions are:- boot: 64MB, ext2
- swap: (RAMx2=) 326MB
- root: what's left (if above totals 0.39GB, that leaves about 29.61GB), reiserfs
Questions:- 1GB is not exactly 1000MB, correct? What's the conversion?
- I remember the hard disk only showed up as "27.9GB" under Windows XP when that was on the system. That is just because Windows is not listing a boot-area, correct?
*****************************************
I eventually want to set this computer up as a webserver. I am concerned about security. I have a tendency to have many, many pictures as well as webpages. I am not sure how I want to use the 2nd hard disk. I probably want to use a hard disk as backup. Before, when I was using this computer for my Windows XP, I ran out of room on the hard disk because of all the pictures. I also have a tendency to collect a lot of folders and small files, because I would save lists of links, news blurbs, etc., to be included later on the websites. I also download all my email and save a lot of it in folders in Thunderbird. I am aware that reiserfs will have the advantage over NTFS in how it handles directories and files, so I'm not so sure I would have run out of disk space had I been using Linux at that time.
I will eventually not do any editing work on this computer, anyway, though I will, for a short time, test some different editors on Linux on this computer. When I'm really comfortable installing Gentoo, using the different stages, and compiling from source, I will feel ready to install Linux on my other computer (the one that is now Windows XP) and use my editing programs there. Also, not all of the photos end up getting uploaded to my websites, so it is safe to say my permanent "editing" computer will not be this computer.
All this is important, because I need to decide how to use the 120GB hard disk and even if I should move the hard disks around.
(BTW, my WindowsXP machine has a 40GB hard disk running at 5400 rpm.)
At minimum, I think I will have the following partitions:- boot: 64MB, ext2
- swap: 626MB (filesystem?)
- root: (size?), reiserfs
- home: (size?), resierfs
- var: (size?), (filesystem?)
Questions:- The command shown to create the swap partition is given as just
with no mention of filesystem, does that mean the filesystem is automatic?
I've seen it mentioned that one should have /var on a seperate partition if you will run a mailserver, what is the recommendation for running a webserver?
What size should the mailserver's and webserver's partitions be?
What filesystems should one use for a those partitions?
Are KDE and GNOME stored in /home or /root?
Any other software I install will be in /home, correct?
What size should /home be?
No need for seperate partition for /usr if no other users on the computer?
I have seen mention of using a seperate /cache partition on a webserver, when is that recommended?
Considering I will get into compiling later, how big should /root be?
In which partition is the portage tree kept, and is it good to use reiserfs there?
If reiserfs is my preferred filesystem, is there anywhere I should particularly use another filesystem besides /boot?
Considering one is limited to 4 primary partitions, which partitions should be extended and which should be secondary?
I'm not sure if I should use the 120GB hard disk for the main disk or for backups, or even if I should distribute the desired partitions between them. Should I install the hard disk first or later (considering my problems using XandOS' shell)? Yes, I have the manual for XandrOS, but it doesn't explain much beyond creating and changing directories and files. I guess it assumes you'll never want to get under the hood. It doesn't even tell you how to mount and unmount!
For example, I suppose I could use one hard disk for /boot and / and other assorted partitions, while the other disk could hold /var and my webserver. Is that a good idea, or will that make the webserver slow?
Or I could use one disk for everything and another for backups. If so, should I use the smaller or the larger for backups?
Or should I use some other partitioning scheme? Should I leave some of my hard disk not partitioned for now?
Notes:- I'm not sure if I will do a stage 1 or 2 later down the road, but will definitely be doing a stage 3 for now. So with the partitioning, I'd prefer to start as I mean to go on.
- I will be using the KDE desktop, but I will also need gtk libraries and GNOME libraries installed for some programs I intend to try/use. Don't know if that makes any difference in your recommendations.
**********************************
Possible dumb question:
Do you always have to compile other packages you install on Linux, or only certain packages, or only compile if there is a compelling reason to do so?
I am definitely a newbie at doing anything other than a standard Linux install. I want more control over my system, and I don't want to be at the mercy of some company's package-management system (hence, I want Gentoo because of portage's highly-recommended features).
Last edited by GetLinux on Thu Nov 10, 2005 1:09 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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durian
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Joined: 16 Jul 2003
Posts: 312
Location: Margretetorp
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| Posted: Wed Nov 09, 2005 8:02 am Post subject: Re: Need Help Designing Partition Scheme: 27GB + 120GB disks |
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| GetLinux wrote: | Hi. I've installed Linux before (currently have XandrOS installed). I want to switch to Gentoo but need help deciding on a partition scheme.
[snip]
Questions:- The command shown to create the swap partition is given as just with no mention of filesystem, does that mean the filesystem is automatic?
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Yes, it is set when you create the partition - you have to set the type to "linux swap".
| GetLinux wrote: | I've seen it mentioned that one should have /var on a seperate partition if you will run a mailserver, what is the recommendation for running a webserver?
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IMHO, a seperate /var is always good - log files end up there as well, they could grow a lot. it is a bigger problem if everything is on "/" and that fills up than if it is "just" /var that fills up.
| GetLinux wrote: | What size should the mailserver's and webserver's partitions be?
What filesystems should one use for a those partitions?
Are KDE and GNOME stored in /home or /root?
Any other software I install will be in /home, correct?
What size should /home be?
No need for seperate partition for /usr if no other users on the computer?
I have seen mention of using a seperate /cache partition on a webserver, when is that recommended?
Considering I will get into compiling later, how big should /root be?
In which partition is the portage tree kept, and is it good to use reiserfs there?
If reiserfs is my preferred filesystem, is there anywhere I should particularly use another filesystem besides /boot?
Considering one is limited to 4 primary partitions, which partitions should be extended and which should be secondary?
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KDE and GNOME are probably on /opt (I don't use them, am not sure.)
Other software will be on /usr/bin and /usr/local/bin. /home is for the users, the system will not put anything on that.
It can be as big/small as you want.
For compiling with gentoo/emerge, /var and /tmp are important. Big things like KDE need a lot of space on /tmp for the emerge, but the stuff will be cleaned out later.
I usually have /boot, swap and / on primary partitions, the rest on extended.
I used to have seperate /usr/ and/or /usr/local, but not anymore (I got lazy :-) ). It is not really necessary IMHO.
| GetLinux wrote: | I'm not sure if I should use the 120GB hard disk for the main disk or for backups, or even if I should distribute the desired partitions between them. Should I install the hard disk first or later (considering my problems using XandOS' shell)? Yes, I have the manual for XandrOS, but it doesn't explain much beyond creating and changing directories and files. I guess it assumes you'll never want to get under the hood. It doesn't even tell you how to mount and unmount!
For example, I suppose I could use one hard disk for /boot and / and other assorted partitions, while the other disk could hold /var and my webserver. Is that a good idea, or will that make the webserver slow?
Or I could use one disk for everything and another for backups. If so, should I use the smaller or the larger for backups?
Or should I use some other partitioning scheme? Should I leave some of my hard disk not partitioned for now?
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Having the webserver on the other disk won't make it slower. If I were you, I'd have seperate /tmp and /var directories, a seperate /www (or something) directory for the webserver (on the 120GB disk maybe), and seperate partitions for the pictures, backup (and of course for /home and /). I would put the Linux "system" on the 27 GB disk (/, /boot, /var, /tmp, /home) and the webserver and other backup/data directories on the 120 GB disk.
| GetLinux wrote: | Notes:- I'm not sure if I will do a stage 1 or 2 later down the road, but will definitely be doing a stage 3 for now. So with the partitioning, I'd prefer to start as I mean to go on.
- I will be using the KDE desktop, but I will also need gtk libraries and GNOME libraries installed for some programs I intend to try/use. Don't know if that makes any difference in your recommendations.
**********************************
Possible dumb question:
Do you always have to compile other packages you install on Linux, or only certain packages, or only compile if there is a compelling reason to do so? |
If you use "emerge" they will be compiled. There is a method to use binary packages (I have never used it), which could save time with things like Mozilla or KDE.
Hope this helps,
-peter |
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GetLinux
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| Posted: Wed Nov 09, 2005 8:18 am Post subject: |
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| durian wrote: | | If I were you, I'd have seperate /tmp and /var directories, a seperate /www (or something) directory for the webserver (on the 120GB disk maybe), and seperate partitions for the pictures, backup (and of course for /home and /). I would put the Linux "system" on the 27 GB disk (/, /boot, /var, /tmp, /home) and the webserver and other backup/data directories on the 120 GB disk. |
Did you mean to say, "seperate /www partition", "seperate /tmp partition" and "seperate /var partition"? Or did I just misunderstand?
Also, to give you an idea of my current activities, the "My Documents" folder on my Windows box will not fit on a CD (I recently needed a new CPU and they backed up my data on DVD without checking if I had a DVD drive...so I returned the backup and they split it onto 2 CDs for me.)
The pictures on the webserver (Linux) computer would be pictures for the websites, and for 1 website there are so many I have the pictures for that website sectioned into several lower (album) folders below this website's "Photos" directory.. This is important in managing my pictures, and also because I have a photo-album JavaScript for each album...so people visit the photo album they want to view and a JavaScript acts as the "engine" of each album. Therefore, the vast majority of pictures need to be stored with the website they go with. (They aren't pictures soley for my personal enjoyment.)
What you explained so far was very helpful...thank you. 
| durian wrote: | /home is for the users, the system will not put anything on that.
It can be as big/small as you want. |
Oh, yeah...that is just for my own files, correct? (Can't imagine I'd end up with much if this is not my "editing" computer.)[/quote] |
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durian
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Joined: 16 Jul 2003
Posts: 312
Location: Margretetorp
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| Posted: Wed Nov 09, 2005 8:30 am Post subject: |
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| GetLinux wrote: | [quote=durian]If I were you, I'd have seperate /tmp and /var directories, a seperate /www (or something) directory for the webserver (on the 120GB disk maybe), and seperate partitions for the pictures, backup (and of course for /home and /). I would put the Linux "system" on the 27 GB disk (/, /boot, /var, /tmp, /home) and the webserver and other backup/data directories on the 120 GB disk.
Did you mean to say, "seperate /www partition", "seperate /tmp partition" and "seperate /var partition"? Or did I just misunderstand? |
Yes, I meant seperate ones.
| GetLinux wrote: | Also, to give you an idea of my current activities, the "My Documents" folder on my Windows box will not fit on a CD (I recently needed a new CPU and they backed up my data on DVD without checking if I had a DVD drive...so I returned the backup and they split it onto 2 CDs for me.
The pictures on the webserver (Linux) computer would be pictures for the websites, and for 1 website there are so many I have the pictures for that website sectioned into several lower (album) folders below this website's "Photos" directory. (I keep other graphics in a "graphics" file for the specific website. This is important in managing my pictures, and also because I have a photo-album JavaScript for each album...so people visit the photo album they want to view and a a JavaScript acts as the "engine" of each album. Therefore, the vast majority of pictures need to be stored with the website they go with. (They aren't pictures soley for my personal enjoyment.) |
Than you need a big partition for the webserver :-) You can still have a layout with folers and javascript on there, just make it big enough. If you are unsure, you can make a very big partition on the 120 GB disk, and have different folders there. For example, make a 120GB parition called /data, with subfolders: /data/www for the webserver, /data/backup for backup. Then you won't run the risk of one partition filling up to 99% while another one is still empty. This last comment holds also for the linux system. If you have /tmp and /var and / together (with plenty of space) there is no risk of e.g. /tmp filling up and /var being emtpy.
Am I confusing you? :-)
-peter |
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GetLinux
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| Posted: Wed Nov 09, 2005 8:46 am Post subject: |
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No Peter, you're not confusing me...I'm already confused  ...you've been very helpful.
Here is one thing that I am confused about. You recommend /var being on the Linux drive (27G) and the webserver being on the Data drive (120G). Should I have 2 /var 's? Or are you recommending I have the website data on the Data drive and the webserver software (in /var, I assume) on the Linux drive (considering, for example, the safest place to install CGI scripts)?
Or is /var only used for a mailserver (not for a webserver)?
I will probably set up a mailserver later (though only for myself, not for email accounts for other people).
At least 1 of my websites will probably allow people to upload pictures for everyone's enjoyment, and another may allow people to add themselves to a database (I say "will probably" and "may" because right now, it's easier to use a commercial hosting company for my sites, though I want to gradually switch them over -- maybe more than 1 year away). Some of my simpler websites will be switched over sooner. |
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GetLinux
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| Posted: Wed Nov 09, 2005 9:13 am Post subject: Here is 1 possible partitioning scheme. |
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Linux/30GB:- hda0 -- /swap -- primary -- 626MB -- linux swap
- hda1 -- /boot -- primary -- 64MB -- reiserfs
- hda2 -- / -- primary -- 2GB -- reiserfs
- hda3 -- -- extended -- 27GB -- (no need to set filesystem?)
- hda4 -- /tmp -- logical -- size? -- reiserfs
- hda6 -- /home -- logical -- size? -- reiserfs
Data/120GB:- hdb0 -- /www -- primary -- size? -- reiserfs
- hdb1 -- /backup -- primary -- size? -- resiserfs
- hdb2 -- /var -- primary -- size? -- reiserfs
Again, this is assuming I'll have a webserver and eventually a mailserver. Is there any reason I must (or should) have another /var (or the only /var) on the 30GB disk? Do I need 2 /var s for any reason? Is webserver software stored in /var and websites in totally seperate partitions, or should the websites be in a folder under the webserver (i.e., /var/www)?
Again, am I confused thinking any kind of server software must be stored in var, or is that only specific to mailservers? |
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durian
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| Posted: Wed Nov 09, 2005 9:29 am Post subject: |
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| GetLinux wrote: | No Peter, you're not confusing me...I'm already confused :wink: ...you've been very helpful.
Here is one thing that I am confused about. You recommend /var being on the Linux drive (27G) and the webserver being on the Data drive (120G). Should I have 2 /var 's? Or are you recommending I have the website data on the Data drive and the webserver software (in /var, I assume) on the Linux drive (considering, for example, the safest place to install CGI scripts)?
Or is /var only used for a mailserver (not for a webserver)? |
You only need one /var . For a mailserver, mail is usually put in /var/spool/mail,. so this needs to be able to grow. The apache default for a webserver is to have HTML files in /var/www I think, but I usually put it somewhere else, e.g. /data/www .
The webserver software will be in /usr/sbin (for example), and the configuration in /etc/apache2/ . The data files (html files, scripts,...) can be where you want, it's all configurable.
-peter |
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durian
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Location: Margretetorp
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| Posted: Wed Nov 09, 2005 9:33 am Post subject: Re: Here is 1 possible partitioning scheme. |
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| GetLinux wrote: | Linux/30GB:- hda0 -- /swap -- primary -- 626MB -- linux swap
- hda1 -- /boot -- primary -- 64MB -- reiserfs
- hda2 -- / -- primary -- 2GB -- reiserfs
- hda3 -- -- extended -- 27GB -- (no need to set filesystem?)
- hda4 -- /tmp -- logical -- size? -- reiserfs
- hda6 -- /home -- logical -- size? -- reiserfs
Data/120GB:- hdb0 -- /www -- primary -- size? -- reiserfs
- hdb1 -- /backup -- primary -- size? -- resiserfs
- hdb2 -- /var -- primary -- size? -- reiserfs
Again, this is assuming I'll have a webserver and eventually a mailserver. Is there any reason I must (or should) have another /var (or the only /var) on the 30GB disk? Do I need 2 /var s for any reason? Is webserver software stored in /var and websites in totally seperate partitions, or should the websites be in a folder under the webserver (i.e., /var/www)?
Again, am I confused thinking any kind of server software must be stored in var, or is that only specific to mailservers? |
No software is in /var - it is log files and data files. For a mailserver for exanple, the actual mails will be stored in /var/spool/mail, logfiles in /var/log/ etc etc.
-peter |
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durian
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| Posted: Wed Nov 09, 2005 9:47 am Post subject: |
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Here a possibility:
27 GB disk (hda)
| Code: |
hda1 /boot 64 MB
hda2 swap 1 GB
hda3 / 20 GB
(extended)
hda5 /tmp 2GB
hda6 /var 4GB
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This will get you approx. 27 GB.
And the 120 GB (hdb)
| Code: |
hdb1 /www 40GB
hdb2 /backup 40GB
hdb3 /... 40GB
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Should it be necessary, you can always move /home, or /opt or /var/spool to hdb3
If I look at my system; / is only 3.6GB, but I don't have X, KDE or GNOME on there. There is some info on partitions in http://www.gentoo.org/doc/en/handbook/handbook-x86.xml?part=1&chap=4
-peter |
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GetLinux
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| Posted: Wed Nov 09, 2005 10:17 am Post subject: Re: Here is 1 possible partitioning scheme. |
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| durian wrote: | You only need one /var . For a mailserver, mail is usually put in /var/spool/mail,. so this needs to be able to grow. The apache default for a webserver is to have HTML files in /var/www I think, but I usually put it somewhere else, e.g. /data/www .
The webserver software will be in /usr/sbin (for example), and the configuration in /etc/apache2/ . The data files (html files, scripts,...) can be where you want, it's all configurable. |
Thank you. So I fixed my partitioning plan as below. This is my reasoning:
- /tmp is put in a seperate partition (a) for security (per other posts I've read, many crackers design their malware to run in /tmp), and (b) because it can grow a lot at times
- /home is seperate for personal information security from crackers as well as from problems if my OS has a problem
- the 120GB "Data" HD will be designated for /var and /backup because (a) I want to keep scripts (which are in the folder conveniently named, for now, /www) on a seperate partition and harddrive from both my OS and my /home directory for security's sake, (b) /www (my websites) and /spool/mail (email) will both grow a lot, (c) /var is also used for compiling and needs space for that and (d) /backup will grow a lot, too
Does this make sense to you?
Linux/30GB:- hda0 -- /swap -- primary -- 626MB -- linux swap
- hda1 -- /boot -- primary -- 64MB -- ext2
- hda2 -- / -- primary -- 9GB -- reiserfs
- hda3 -- -- extended -- 20GB -- (no need to set filesystem?)
- hda4 -- /tmp -- logical -- size? -- reiserfs
- hda6 -- /home -- logical -- size? -- reiserfs
Data/120GB:- hdb0 -- /var (with /www and /spool/mail beneath) -- primary -- 70GB -- reiserfs
- hdb1 -- /backup -- primary -- 50GB -- resiserfs
Questions:
- I will not be specifying the size of the /www and /spool folders (beneath the /var partition in my proposed scheme), correct?
- Do I need to set a filesystem on the extended partition that will hold the logical partitions? Or do I only set a filesystem on the logicals themselves?
- If other software is stored in /usr/bin and /usr/sbin...maybe I should make / be 5-9GB and the extended partition 20-24GB...I probably don't need 27GB just for /tmp and /home, right? Should I make / even bigger than 9GB?
- What size do you recommend for each of the logical partitions /home and /tmp?
- (hate to repeat, but) Is there anything I have specified as reiserfs that shouldn't be?
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GetLinux
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| Posted: Wed Nov 09, 2005 10:23 am Post subject: |
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| durian wrote: | | If I look at my system; / is only 3.6GB, but I don't have X, KDE or GNOME on there. |
Thanks. I just read your post now (my post took a while to compose). I think I have my scheme worked out, if you can refer to my last post, give your opinion, and answer a few questions (I listed them at the bottom of that post, figured that's easier).
Also, the hard disk is 30GB (at least that's they way it was advertised when I bought the computer). But when I had Windows XP on it, the Properties dialog would say it was something like 27.9GB. I hope that's because Windows was not considering its own boot space when showing me my total/available disk space. No one would actually make a 27.9GB hard disk, right? |
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durian
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| Posted: Wed Nov 09, 2005 11:03 am Post subject: Re: Here is 1 possible partitioning scheme. |
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| GetLinux wrote: | | durian wrote: | You only need one /var . For a mailserver, mail is usually put in /var/spool/mail,. so this needs to be able to grow. The apache default for a webserver is to have HTML files in /var/www I think, but I usually put it somewhere else, e.g. /data/www .
The webserver software will be in /usr/sbin (for example), and the configuration in /etc/apache2/ . The data files (html files, scripts,...) can be where you want, it's all configurable. |
Thank you. So I fixed my partitioning plan as below. This is my reasoning:
- /tmp is put in a seperate partition (a) for security (per other posts I've read, many crackers design their malware to run in /tmp), and (b) because it can grow a lot at times
- /home is seperate for personal information security from crackers as well as from problems if my OS has a problem
- the 120GB "Data" HD will be designated for /var and /backup because (a) I want to keep scripts (which are in the folder conveniently named, for now, /www) on a seperate partition and harddrive from both my OS and my /home directory for security's sake, (b) /www (my websites) and /spool/mail (email) will both grow a lot, (c) /var is also used for compiling and needs space for that and (d) /backup will grow a lot, too
Does this make sense to you?
Linux/30GB:- hda0 -- /swap -- primary -- 626MB -- linux swap
- hda1 -- /boot -- primary -- 64MB -- ext2
- hda2 -- / -- primary -- 9GB -- reiserfs
- hda3 -- -- extended -- 20GB -- (no need to set filesystem?)
- hda4 -- /tmp -- logical -- size? -- reiserfs
- hda6 -- /home -- logical -- size? -- reiserfs
Data/120GB:- hdb0 -- /var (with /www and /spool/mail beneath) -- primary -- 70GB -- reiserfs
- hdb1 -- /backup -- primary -- 50GB -- resiserfs
Questions:
- I will not be specifying the size of the /www and /spool folders (beneath the /var partition in my proposed scheme), correct?
- Do I need to set a filesystem on the extended partition that will hold the logical partitions? Or do I only set a filesystem on the logicals themselves?
- If other software is stored in /usr/bin and /usr/sbin...maybe I should make / be 5-9GB and the extended partition 20-24GB...I probably don't need 27GB just for /tmp and /home, right? Should I make / even bigger than 9GB?
- What size do you recommend for each of the logical partitions /home and /tmp?
- (hate to repeat, but) Is there anything I have specified as reiserfs that shouldn't be?
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Let's see :-)
You don't have to specify the folders under /var, if /var is mounted on hdb0, all the subfolders in /var will be on there.
You don't need a filesystem on the extended partition, only on the filesystems in the extended partition.
On hda, /usr/bin and /usr/sbin will be part of / if you don't mount them explicitly to another partition! Once you have the system up and everything is installed, these will not grow too much - I would have them part of /, and make sure that / is not too small. The 9 GB you had there should be enough, especially if /home, /tmp and /var are on other partitions.
Like you said, you probably don't need 20 GB for a /home partitions, unles you'll expect many users with lots of data (or you want to keep DVD images on there or something :-) )
If you make everything reiserfs, make sure it is part of the kernel, and not a module! The kernel needs to be able to read/mount reiserfs when starting up before the (other) modules are loaded. For that reason I have my /boot and / on plain ext2 partitions. I assume it is possible to have everything on reiserfs, but don't take my word for it :-)
/tmp doesn't have to be bigger than 1 GB if you want to be on the safe side, and that's probably overkill - I see the docs mention that compilation is done on /var/tmp/portage, so that should have some space (which it does if you put the big /var on hdb). My preference would be to have a seperate /var and seperate partition(s) for the webserver though.
-peter |
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GetLinux
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| Posted: Wed Nov 09, 2005 12:10 pm Post subject: |
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| durian wrote: | | Like you said, you probably don't need 20 GB for a /home partitions, unles you'll expect many users with lots of data. |
OK...just to make sure I'm not entirely dumb about this...I'm assuming that /home is only for users (myself) of the computer, not any "users" who may need access to restricted portions of some website?
| durian wrote: | | /tmp doesn't have to be bigger than 1 GB if you want to be on the safe side, and that's probably overkill |
I remember reading a post somewhere where 1GB for /tmp was not enough for their needs. I guess you could say I want to be on the extra-safe side!
Also, I am assuming that when we are talking about /tmp and /var/tmp(/portage), we are talking about 2 entirely different /tmp directories?
| durian wrote: | | On hda, /usr/bin and /usr/sbin will be part of / if you don't mount them explicitly to another partition! |
I wasn't planning to, but now that you drew my attention to these partitions again, I suppose it makes sense to keep other programs (like my desktop) seperate from the OS.
| durian wrote: | | If you make everything reiserfs, make sure it is part of the kernel, and not a module! The kernel needs to be able to read/mount reiserfs when starting up before the (other) modules are loaded. For that reason I have my /boot and / on plain ext2 partitions. |
Thanks for reminding me of that! I'll do those partitions as ext2.
I seperated /usr from /.
I also seperated /www from /var. (And I guess it is safer not to have CGI scripts on the same partition as my mail.)
I also want to be somewhat generous with my /usr partiton because I don't know really what applications I'll install as I try and discard different ones. I have some definite ideas for certain applications, but who knows what else I may install.
New Plan for Partitioning Scheme:
Linux / 30GB:
- hda0 -- /swap -- primary -- 626MB -- linux swap
- hda1 -- /boot -- primary -- 64MB -- ext2
- hda2 -- / -- primary -- 3GB -- ext2
- hda3 -- -- extended -- 26GB
- hda4 -- /usr -- logical -- 9GB -- reiserfs
- hda5 -- /home -- logical -- 15GB -- reiserfs
- hda6 -- /tmp -- logical -- 2GB -- reiserfs
Data / 120GB:
- hdb0 -- /var -- primary -- 20GB -- reiserfs
- hdb1 -- /www -- primary -- 40GB -- reiserfs
- hdb2 -- /backup -- primary -- 60GB -- reiserfs
Is 20GB a good size for /var (which is used in compiles, and where my mail will also be)?
What do you think about 3GB for / and 9GB for /usr? (I'll be using KDE, I won't be using GNOME, but I'll need the GNOME libraries and gtk libraries because some software can be run on KDE but only if the GNOME and gtk libraries are installed.)
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GetLinux
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| Posted: Wed Nov 09, 2005 12:49 pm Post subject: |
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By the way, I'm gonna go to bed now...won't be back for several hours.
I'm back. I'll hang out here for a little while.
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GetLinux
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| Posted: Wed Nov 09, 2005 8:05 pm Post subject: |
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I'm OK except need answers to newbie questions 2 posts prior.
Sorry...I just want to make sure I understand everything correctly. I think I'm set on the partitioning scheme, though.
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durian
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| Posted: Thu Nov 10, 2005 8:46 am Post subject: |
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| GetLinux wrote: | I'm OK except need answers to newbie questions 2 posts prior.
Sorry...I just want to make sure I understand everything correctly. I think I'm set on the partitioning scheme, though. |
Hi again :-) I'm back :-)
Which were the ones you were uncertain about?
-peter |
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GetLinux
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| Posted: Thu Nov 10, 2005 11:43 am Post subject: |
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| GetLinux wrote: | I'm assuming that /home is only for users (myself) of the computer, not any "users" who may need access to restricted portions of some website?
Also, I am assuming that when we are talking about /tmp and /var/tmp(/portage), we are talking about 2 entirely different /tmp directories?
Is 20GB a good size for /var (which is used in compiles, and where my mail will also be)?
What do you think about 3GB for / and 9GB for /usr? (I'll be using KDE, I won't be using GNOME, but I'll need the GNOME libraries and gtk libraries because some software can be run on KDE but only if the GNOME and gtk libraries are installed.) |
(You can look back to the last partitioning scheme I posted to see if the partition sizes make sense to you. I separated /usr from / and /www from /var. Trying to be somewhat generous with /usr size because I may change/add applications as I try things out.)
BTW, thanks again for all your help!
I decided to go ahead with a "practice" Gentoo install and compile anyway with the standard setup, just so I have an idea what's involved (stage 3, kernel compiling now, messed around some with /etc/make.conf including some USE flags). Plus, I still have to install that hard drive (something I've never done). I don't want to be stuck with XandrOS while I'm doing that. After I get the 120GB disk installed, then I'll go ahead with the new install we're talking about here. (Maybe I'll get daring and do a stage 1!)
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durian
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| Posted: Thu Nov 10, 2005 12:16 pm Post subject: |
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| GetLinux wrote: | I'm assuming that /home is only for users (myself) of the computer, not any "users" who may need access to restricted portions of some website?
Also, I am assuming that when we are talking about /tmp and /var/tmp(/portage), we are talking about 2 entirely different /tmp directories?
Is 20GB a good size for /var (which is used in compiles, and where my mail will also be)?
What do you think about 3GB for / and 9GB for /usr? (I'll be using KDE, I won't be using GNOME, but I'll need the GNOME libraries and gtk libraries because some software can be run on KDE but only if the GNOME and gtk libraries are installed.)
(You can look back to the last partitioning scheme I posted to see if the partition sizes make sense to you. I separated /usr from / and /www from /var. Trying to be somewhat generous with /usr size because I may change/add applications as I try things out.) |
Looks good, although I would put / and /usr together in one 12GB. 20GB for /var is quite a lot - that holds a lot mail (or news) especially if you have a seperate /www. On the other hand, if you have the space...
| GetLinux wrote: | BTW, thanks again for all your help!
I decided to go ahead with a "practice" Gentoo install and compile anyway with the standard setup, just so I have an idea what's involved (stage 3, kernel compiling now, messed around some with /etc/make.conf including some USE flags). Plus, I still have to install that hard drive (something I've never done). I don't want to be stuck with XandrOS while I'm doing that. After I get the 120GB disk installed, then I'll go ahead with the new install we're talking about here. (Maybe I'll get daring and do a stage 1!) |
You're welcome!
The first gentoo install I did was a stage 1 - nowadays I just do a stage 3 (laaaazy :-) )
-peter |
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GetLinux
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| Posted: Thu Nov 10, 2005 1:08 pm Post subject: |
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| durian wrote: | | The first gentoo install I did was a stage 1 - nowadays I just do a stage 3 (laaaazy ) |
I can kind of see why...  ...this is taking soooo long! But that's mostly because I have to read and re-read information, write much information down verbatim, and sometimes list stuff in directories to remind myself of some details. Actually "doing" the tasks didn't seem to take that long. I'm sure if I knew what I was doing, I'd already be done by now  !
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Installing Gentoo
