[Novalug] For discussion: better to partition or not partition?

Richard Ertel richard.ertel@gmail.com
Thu May 28 14:17:34 EDT 2009


my understanding of partitioning is that you always need at least 1
partition (if you want to use the drive). i imagine if you format a
drive that has no partitions, one will be automatically made for you.

i do agree with Jim. my ubuntu-only pcs have 3 partitions: /, /home,
and swap. reinstallation is easy, just don't format /home. my
dual-boot pcs have 5 partitions: windows, /, /home, swap, and a common
storage partition (NTFS).

On Thu, May 28, 2009 at 14:09, James Swanson <swanson.james@gmail.com> wrote:
> Personally, if you ever upgrade the box, having separate partitions
> for /home keeps the user's info safe.  If the system gets hosed, /usr
> and other directories where binaries go may be affected, but the user
> data is safe.  I'd keep any kind of data directory on a separate
> partition.
>
> Jim
>
> On Thu, May 28, 2009 at 1:30 PM, Megan Larko <larkoc@iges.org> wrote:
>> Hi,
>>
>> I am setting up a new disk internal to an new Cent OS 5.3 linux box.   I am
>> using the LSI Perc 6/i card to create a RAID5 out of four disks internal to
>> the box, FYI.   I am getting ready to prepare the disk for use and I am
>> wondering about partitioning.    I am old (school).   When I learned *NIX
>> file systems, a disk *must* be partitioned prior to being formatted.   I
>> know that is no longer true.  It is perfectly possible to format an entire
>> device (sdb, for example).
>>
>> So my question to the group is---
>>
>> Given an entire physical device to be used, what benefit, if any, is
>> conferred upon the admin/user/system by partitioning the device prior to
>> formatting compared with not partitioning the physical device and just
>> formatting the entire unit?
>>
>>
>> megan
>>
>>
>> --
>> I will now bring you up to speed on the situation.
>> We know nothing!
>> There, you are now up to speed.
>>
>> ---Steve Martin as Inspector Clouseau
>>   Pink Panther 2
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