On Tuesday 10 May 2005 01:31, Robert Yu wrote:
> I'm perplexed about how I can divide partitoins in Linux.
>
> Can they be /var or /root in one parrtition [storing drivers,
> software , and important OS info]?
>
> And what of home?
>
> Are both these partitions part of the main group if I decide to
> split them in two??
Try to look at it this way : In Linux everything is represented as a
file (software) and your entire system, including all your devices
is a collection of files mounted under one, common 'top' directory,
called 'root' - represented by a slash (/).
Now, in the physical world (hardware), you can split your collection
of files across as many physical partitions as you like. For
example, you can have all your files in one, big / (physical)
partition of the hard drive. If this is what Windows calls 'c', it
will be called hda. Your hda can then be split into many, separate
physical partitions, called hda1, hda2, hda3.... and so forth, so
that you can put your personal stuff, called /home/yourname on a
separate, physical partition, for example hda2. That way you can
erase (format) all partitions, except your /home. Makes an upgrade
or new install very easy.
If you have one big / partition, you can't format it without losing
your /home. That's why most people have at least a separate,
physical partition for /home, like hda2 or whatever. How every
physical partition is related to your file system is written in a
special file, called /etc/fstab. Study it, and you'll become wise.
One thing to remember : keep a separate, physical partition for
'swap'. This partition is not formatted and not a part of your
file system, so in etc/fstab it's just a physical device.
As a fresh newbie, I would partition my hard disk this way :
hda1 : the root partition (/) with / , /usr, /var, /etc, /tmp, and
whatnot. Make it about 5-10 GB.
hda2 : swap partition. Make it equal to your RAM size + 30%, for
example, if you have 512 MB RAM, make it 800 MB.
hda3 : /home partition. Contains everything belonging to you, like
preferred settings, documents, photos, mail, and everything you
care about - except your wife & children. Make the size the rest
of your hard drive.
If your are adventurous, you can split your entire file system over
many hard disks, many computers or over the entire internet.
Whatever your choice, your system will work as one unit.
Isn't Linux wonderful ?
Kaj Haulrich.
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