Partition layout

[tmcG]

Greetings to all

I have just registered on the forum and am after some advice on what people recommend in regard to partition structure on Linux.

I am relatively new to Linux and at the moment I use a seperate partition for:

/
/usr
/home
/var
swap

Are there any guidelines on how to best setup your partitions? Does it matter?:confused:

Thank you in advance!

[Hayl]

Originally posted by tmcG
I am relatively new to Linux and at the moment I use a seperate partition for:

/
/usr
/home
/var
swap

Are there any guidelines on how to best setup your partitions? Does it matter?\

no, there are not really any guidelines. it is a matter of preference. it matters more on a server than on a desktop machine.

on my desktop machine, i only have /home /boot and / and a swap partition.

[tmcG]

Thank you very much for the information and quick response!

[mdwatts]

Though it's a little dated, we do have a JL Help File on 'How to create a Multiple Partition Filesystem' (http://justlinux.com/nhf/Installation/How_to_Create_a_Multiple_Partition_System.html)

[o0zi]

It's a good idea to have a /home partition, because then if you upgrade you still have all your user-specific files.
I'm not sure if /var sees any performance increase on a separate partition, but it may do because the files in it are constantly changing.
You may also want to keep /root separate if you keep any files in it and you're planning to upgrade soon.

[tmcG]

Thank to mdwatts for the link to the document and o0zi for the information.

I am finding Linux a great OS and so much more powerful to use than Windows.

There is so much to learn though....:D

[dysharmonic]

Like the others have said, a separate /home would help a lot in case there arises the need to reinstall everything. Your personal files wont be touched.

[motub]

Now, just to be a fly in the ointment, I'd like to mention that what I do is have a whole separate partition which I mount inside my /home folder, to keep my personal files. Actually, I have several, some FAT32 and one Linux ext 3.

Of course, this is partially because I have 2 versions of Windows and 4 distributions of Linux installed, which is perhaps an unusual situation.

But still, I just wanted to debunk this myth of the /home folder a little. It's true that your personal data should probably be on a separate partition-- but that does not mean that /home itself has to be a separate partition.

You can do some pretty amazing stuff in /etc/fstab.

[dysharmonic]

Correct :)

The idea is it would be better if one's personal files are on a separate partition and not in a folder under /.