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I have a machine with two 20GB drives and I'm going to be installing Linux (openSuSE 10.2 downloading ISO right now) as the only operating system on the machine. I just read about partitioning and I think I have a good scheme but I just want to check with some Linux users on the forums first before I run the installer.
All units are in megabytes. Oh, and the partitions are listed from first to last on the drive.
Drive 1:
/ - 9128
swap - 128
/home - 9128
swap - 128
/tmp - 300Drive 2:
/usr - 9128
swap - 128
/usr/local - 9128
swap - 128
/var - 300I'm not sure if putting multiple swap partitions between other partitions is common practice, but I think that it'll make the machine slightly faster as the head doesn't have to travel as far to get to a swap partition (because there will always be one right next to the partition currently being accesed).
-iam
The answer to all of the questions you don't want to answer:
Bad Command or File Name

I am not a big fan of partitions. Why not let suse do what it wants. Unless you are going to need another OS or XEN or Solaris containers or other real special reasons then I can't see why you'd need more than a swap file if even that.
I read it wrong and answer it wrong too. So get off my case you goober.

I have used Linux since 1998 and the most
useful bit of wisdom I have ever received
was direction to remember the kiss principle
(usually a programmers axiom). KISS is an
acronym for Keep It Simple Sam (you can use
any word starting with the letter S to
replace Sam if you are so inclined).In the spirit of that wisdom, I use a root
partition, a swap partition, and a /home
partition. If I were to put any other part
of the file system on a separate partition,
it would be /opt, but only if I intended to
install software not included with my
distribution.Since you have two 20GB drives, you would do
well to create a "/" partition (7 GB), a
swap partition (512 MB), and a third
partition consuming the remaining space on
the first drive. Create a /home partition
using the entire space on the second drive.
Install your Linux distribution using
the "/" and /home partitions described
above. After installation create a directory
under your user account's home directory
(perhaps named storage) and mount the
partition consuming the remaining space on
the first drive to it. This will make over
32GB storage space available for your user
account.I do not think you will achieve a
significant improvement in performance (or
even a noticable one) by using multiple swap
partitions. Remember, each partition
requires space for the partition table so
more partitions equals less storage space.
You should always have a valid reason for
creating additional partitions.As an example, using a /home partition
allows you to install a new release of your
chosen Linux distribution when one becomes
available without having to wory about
losing your user configurations or any
original files you have stored in your user
account's home directory. The "/" partition
can be formatted and your /home partition
remains undisturbed.I hope this is helpful,
Ernie Registered Linux User 247790
ICQ 41060744

You are going to get a different opinion from each and every Linux Admin here. :-)
For example, in you original layout I personally am opposed to /home being where it is.
And I would move /usr back to drive 1. (Let it hang under /).
But your ideas will work. Only actual use and experience can tell you whether you 'guessed' right.
One important note: if this is a 'throw away' system, where you might be frequently reinstalling etc .... you should consider the idea posed by another poster to just let the install do what it wants to. You can fix that up later.
But if it will be an environment where you want to or must preserve user data across different installs, you have the right idea.

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