From owner-freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG Sat Feb 18 01:17:52 2012 Return-Path: Delivered-To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Received: from mx1.freebsd.org (mx1.freebsd.org [IPv6:2001:4f8:fff6::34]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id ECAAC1065670 for ; Sat, 18 Feb 2012 01:17:52 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from gull@gull.us) Received: from mail-wi0-f182.google.com (mail-wi0-f182.google.com [209.85.212.182]) by mx1.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 811108FC13 for ; Sat, 18 Feb 2012 01:17:52 +0000 (UTC) Received: by wibhn14 with SMTP id hn14so2911633wib.13 for ; Fri, 17 Feb 2012 17:17:51 -0800 (PST) Received-SPF: pass (google.com: domain of gull@gull.us designates 10.180.78.233 as permitted sender) client-ip=10.180.78.233; Authentication-Results: mr.google.com; spf=pass (google.com: domain of gull@gull.us designates 10.180.78.233 as permitted sender) smtp.mail=gull@gull.us Received: from mr.google.com ([10.180.78.233]) by 10.180.78.233 with SMTP id e9mr1816007wix.0.1329527871465 (num_hops = 1); Fri, 17 Feb 2012 17:17:51 -0800 (PST) MIME-Version: 1.0 Received: by 10.180.78.233 with SMTP id e9mr1581115wix.0.1329527871395; Fri, 17 Feb 2012 17:17:51 -0800 (PST) Received: by 10.180.88.130 with HTTP; Fri, 17 Feb 2012 17:17:51 -0800 (PST) X-Originating-IP: [128.95.17.233] In-Reply-To: References: <4F3ECF23.5000706@fisglobal.com> <20120217234623.cf7e169c.freebsd@edvax.de> Date: Fri, 17 Feb 2012 17:17:51 -0800 Message-ID: From: David Brodbeck To: Chris Hill Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable X-Gm-Message-State: ALoCoQl6+s3mhZHweF/lbv1Lo20Sbhn5aAZeAYso1APTZoP+BI0Y0lQgkkifyFuEGZHaK64n6MLh Cc: david.robison@fisglobal.com, Polytropon , freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Subject: Re: One or Four? X-BeenThere: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.5 Precedence: list List-Id: User questions List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Sat, 18 Feb 2012 01:17:53 -0000 On Fri, Feb 17, 2012 at 3:49 PM, Chris Hill wrote: >> Why not add a selection to the installer, something like >> this: >> >> =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0Partition scheme >> =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0---------------- >> >> =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0[ ] all in one + swap >> =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0Create one partition containing all subtrees >> =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0plus one swap partition. >> >> =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0[ ] separate partitioning + swap >> =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0Create /, /var, /tmp and /usr (including home) >> =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0partitions plus one swap partition. >> >> =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0[ ] user-defined >> =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0 =A0Make your own partitioning selection manually. >> >> Of course, the default SIZES for second choice should be >> reasonable. > > > I like it. This, or something very similar, seems to me like the best way= to > go. > > I am not a professional sysadmin, but have been using FreeBSD since 2.2.6= . > FWIW, I prefer the multi-partition approach for all the reasons already > mentioned. I used to...I found it tended to result in more administration load later, though, because the automated installer's (or my own!) guesses for partition size are rarely entirely adequate. Then you end up slapping in another disk, backing up and repartitioning, or maintaining a symlink farm... The default 512 MB root partition was always a particular pain point. It's completely inadequate if you ever try to build a custom kernel and want the option of falling back to the old one. It makes distribution upgrades nearly impossible. Nowadays I tend to either use one big root or just root and home for desktops. (having a separate home directory *is* nice for upgrades, sometimes, but again you gotta guess right...) For servers I will additionally split off /var, to limit the damage if logging runs amok.