[KLUG Members] Disk partition

[Bryan-TheBS-Smith]

Adam Williams wrote:
> Yep, and "big & empty" partitions are faster. ext2 (and I *assume* 3)
> start to slow down somewhat after they reach 1/3 their capacity.  It
> isn't a big difference,  but it is worth mentioning.  With one or two
> big partitions this is less likely to happen.

Hmmm, from my understanding, I thought Ext2/3 don't fragment much at all
-- especially in comparison with many non-Linux fs (let alone Windows). 
You have to start approaching the reserved space before fragmentation
starts making a difference.  This is why the default reservation at
format is 5-10% of prevent significant fragmentation.

I guess it all depends on the frequency and size of your writes and
deletes.

> Disable fsync in syslog (perfectly safe to do on a desktop machine) if
> you want your system to spent less time diddling about in /var.

Ohhh, good suggestion.

> Experiment with /etc/sysconfig/harddisk settings,  these can make a huge
> difference on IDE systems.

Most 8GB+ HDs can usually be optimized with:
   hdparm -A1 -a8 -c3 -d1 -m16 -u1 /dev/hdX

Additionally, you'll want to added an "-X" parameter for the maximum
speed of your disk controller and drive (whichever is lower):
   -X66   UltraDMA mode 2 (33MBps)
   -X68   UltraDMA mode 4 (66MBps)
   -X69   UltraDMA mode 5 (100MBps)

If you're not sure what your drive is capable of supporting, use "hdparm
-i /dev/hdX" to find out.
   
> Well, if one assumes they (a) he can add more RAM to this machine and
> (b) the machine will accept the type of RAM that is cheap.  RAM is cheap
> (~$100)  but a new machine to take the $100 RAM ($300-$500) makes it a
> bit less of a deal.

Not really.  SiS K7S5A mainboard, $52, Athlon 1GHz, $72, Thermaltake
6Cu, $12 is well under $150.

> Disk space is cheap,  allocate a mountain of swap.  Unless it is a
> laptop and adding more disk is a pain.

Agree, you can always allocate and not use it.  Per my previous post at
LEAP here:
http://www.matrixlist.com/pipermail/leaplist/2001-November/015760.html

I usually leave a "spare" primary partition anyway, for installing new
distros or just moving things around.

-- TheBS

-- 
Bryan "TheBS" Smith     mailto:b.j.smith@ieee.org    chat:thebs413
Engineer   AbsoluteValue Systems, Inc.   http://www.linux-wlan.org
President     SmithConcepts, Inc.     http://www.SmithConcepts.com
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