From owner-freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG Sat Nov 14 07:50:06 2009 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 2FF6F106566B for ; Sat, 14 Nov 2009 07:50:06 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from sonicy@otenet.gr) Received: from aiolos.otenet.gr (aiolos.otenet.gr [83.235.67.30]) by mx1.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 91FF28FC08 for ; Sat, 14 Nov 2009 07:50:05 +0000 (UTC) Received: from pulstar.local (ppp-94-69-68-99.home.otenet.gr [94.69.68.99]) by aiolos.otenet.gr (8.13.8/8.13.8/Debian-3) with ESMTP id nAE7o3GD022689; Sat, 14 Nov 2009 09:50:03 +0200 Message-ID: <4AFE612B.6060501@otenet.gr> Date: Sat, 14 Nov 2009 09:50:03 +0200 From: Manolis Kiagias User-Agent: Thunderbird 2.0.0.23 (Macintosh/20090812) MIME-Version: 1.0 To: Polytropon References: <9d972bed0911131228k36f9515ak361d82d766c24749@mail.gmail.com> <20091114083958.74482be3.freebsd@edvax.de> In-Reply-To: <20091114083958.74482be3.freebsd@edvax.de> X-Enigmail-Version: 0.96.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Cc: Roger , freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Subject: Re: Remote re-installation of current FreeBSD system. 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, 14 Nov 2009 07:50:06 -0000 Polytropon wrote: > A little sidenote: > > On Fri, 13 Nov 2009 15:28:04 -0500, Roger wrote: > >> The reason for wanting to re-install is because I only have on big >> slice that covers the >> entire harddrive and I don't want that. Primarily I would like to have >> /usr/local >> in a separate slice. >> > > In most cases, you set up one slice covering the whole disk, > and then partition it, giving functional parts an own > partition, such as /, /var, /tmp, /usr (including or intendedly > excluding /usr/local) and /home. Those are partitions, not > slices. > > As far as I know, there's no advantage in adding additional slices > to that concept. > > A slice is a "DOS primary partition", while a partition is > just a subdivision (i. e. an own file system) inside a slice. > > > It seems however that some dedicated servers are setup using a single slice and a single partition, i.e. having /usr /var and /tmp as subdirectories in / instead of separate filesystems. I was once administering a server setup in this way - the hosting company would only perform this kind of install (they probably had a ready image or dump and would not change it). If the OP cares to share his /etc/fstab, it will become obvious if this is the case. If there are already separate partitions inside the slice, I'd agree there is no compelling reason to move to a multiple slice system.