[KLUG Members] Disk partition

[Adam Williams]

>I have a 20Gb drive that I run Linux on.  Is there a performance reason to
>carve the disk up into
>/
>/home
>/usr
>/var
>/tmp
>/...

Putting write-frequent partitions near each other can result in a 
performance boost.  It depends on how often your machine has to bank 
writes,  which depends entirely on what you will be doing.

>Is it acceptable to have just a swap partition and a "/" partition?

Yes.  For regular "desktop power user" this works just fine.  It can hurt 
alot if you'll be hosting multiple simultaneous users.

>And on the subject of swap space, is the general rule to create a swap space
>1.5 times the amount of RAM in the machine?

There is no general rule.  It used to be 2x,  some people say 1.5x.  I 
usually set up 4x.  It really depends on what you are going to do.  If you 
spend all day in spreadsheets and other documents that are "normal" size 
1x would probably be find.  If you compile stuff preiodically (normal 
stuff: kernels, occasional application or utility, etc...) or want to 
encode lots of MP3 and burn piles of CDs go with 1.5x.  If you want to 
edit hires photos in GIMP on a regular basis, edit CAD drawings, play with 
SQL databases go with 2x.  If you intend to compile insanely complex apps 
such as IP telephony (anything with the word CODEC anywhere near by), Open 
Office, etc... go with 3x.  If you intend to do all these things at once 
go with 4x or greater.

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Ximian GNOME, Evolution, LTSP, and RedHat Linux + LVM & XFS
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