hard drive usage advice

hard drive usage advice

[Travis Roth]

Hi all,
I need some pointers of where to read more about Linux's disk drive management.

I installed RedHat 7.3 on and asked it to be installed using the server configuration. This appears to have partitioned the drive into 6 partitions. (I allowed it to partition according to the installer's defaults.)
Of concern to me is /dev/hda2 has 20GB of space alocated and it is assigned to the /usr directory.
/dev/hda3 has about 8GB and is assigned to /home.
The /home directory is where all my accounts are and where lots of files will be stored. How can I keep it from running out of space? Will Linux automatically switch to another partition for /home when /dev/hda3 fills up?
Thanks!


**  Travis Roth
www.TravisRoth.com
travis@travisroth.com
 

Re: hard drive usage advice

[Rafael]

On Sat, Jun 29, 2002 at 09:00:46PM -0500, Travis Roth wrote:
> Hi all,
> I need some pointers of where to read more about Linux's disk drive management.
> 
> I installed RedHat 7.3 on and asked it to be installed using the server configuration. This appears to have partitioned the drive into 6 partitions. (I allowed it to partition according to the installer's defaults.)
> Of concern to me is /dev/hda2 has 20GB of space alocated and it is assigned to the /usr directory.
> /dev/hda3 has about 8GB and is assigned to /home.

Never use defaults, they are bad.

I use:
/  150MB
swap (RAM x 2)
/usr 2GB
/var 200 - 500 MB
/tmp 100 - 350 MB
/home the rest of the drive

That makes it easy to upgrade or reinstall the OS without wiping out /home 
for users.

No need for any other partitions IMO.

> The /home directory is where all my accounts are and where lots of files
> will be stored. How can I keep it from running out of space? Will Linux
> automatically switch to another partition for /home when /dev/hda3 fills up? 
> Thanks!

You need to partition the drive for the functionality you intend to use 
your server for. That means repartition it with smaller /usr and bigger 
/home

The OS will not automaticaly use space on different partitions. It's not 
windows to write all over the place.

> 
> **  Travis Roth
> www.TravisRoth.com
> travis@travisroth.com

-- 
Rafael
The Gap Between the Rich and the Poor is Constant.

RE: hard drive usage advice

[Travis Roth]

Hi Rafael,
Thanks for the tips. Unfortunately the thing is already installed and configured, hate to go to the work of wiping all things out again. Will wait till it is necessary I guess.
I do agree on the defaults though, not good ones now that I understand what they actually are...
There wouldn't happen to be any way to repartition without losing stuff, a Partition Magic for Linux?

Thanks.


**  Travis Roth
www.TravisRoth.com
travis@travisroth.com
 

-----Original Message-----
From: blinux-list-admin@redhat.com
Sent: Sunday, June 30, 2002 6:04 PM
To: blinux-list@redhat.com
Subject: Re: hard drive usage advice


On Sat, Jun 29, 2002 at 09:00:46PM -0500, Travis Roth wrote:
> Hi all,
> I need some pointers of where to read more about Linux's disk drive management.
> 
> I installed RedHat 7.3 on and asked it to be installed using the server configuration. This appears to have partitioned the drive into 6 partitions. (I allowed it to partition according to the installer's defaults.)
> Of concern to me is /dev/hda2 has 20GB of space alocated and it is assigned to the /usr directory.
> /dev/hda3 has about 8GB and is assigned to /home.

Never use defaults, they are bad.

I use:
/  150MB
swap (RAM x 2)
/usr 2GB
/var 200 - 500 MB
/tmp 100 - 350 MB
/home the rest of the drive

That makes it easy to upgrade or reinstall the OS without wiping out /home 
for users.

No need for any other partitions IMO.

> The /home directory is where all my accounts are and where lots of files
> will be stored. How can I keep it from running out of space? Will Linux
> automatically switch to another partition for /home when /dev/hda3 fills up? 
> Thanks!

You need to partition the drive for the functionality you intend to use 
your server for. That means repartition it with smaller /usr and bigger 
/home

The OS will not automaticaly use space on different partitions. It's not 
windows to write all over the place.

> 
> **  Travis Roth
> www.TravisRoth.com
> travis@travisroth.com

-- 
Rafael
The Gap Between the Rich and the Poor is Constant.



_______________________________________________
Blinux-list mailing list
Blinux-list@redhat.com
https://listman.redhat.com/mailman/listinfo/blinux-list

Re: hard drive usage advice

[Rafael]

Travis,

I don't know why your email doesn't wrap at about 72 characters. Annoying 
to reply and edit lines individualy...

On Sun, Jun 30, 2002 at 08:21:44PM -0500, Travis Roth wrote:
> Hi Rafael,

> Thanks for the tips. Unfortunately the thing is already installed and
> configured, hate to go to the work of wiping all things out again. Will
> wait till it is necessary I guess.

If you haven't installed any proprietary stuff yet, it might be easier to 
reinstall than fiddle with some king of "black magic" to achive the same 
thing with more or less questionable results.

> I do agree on the defaults though, not good ones now that I understand what they actually are...

> There wouldn't happen to be any way to repartition without losing stuff,
>a Partition Magic for Linux?

I never tried that. It would be faster to reinstall the OS in my opinion. 
I would tar /etc and other critical files to another system or disk drive, 
reinstall the OS and restore the tared files.

> 
> Thanks.
> 
> 
> **  Travis Roth
> www.TravisRoth.com
> travis@travisroth.com
>  
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: blinux-list-admin@redhat.com
> Sent: Sunday, June 30, 2002 6:04 PM
> To: blinux-list@redhat.com
> Subject: Re: hard drive usage advice
> 
> 
> On Sat, Jun 29, 2002 at 09:00:46PM -0500, Travis Roth wrote:
> > Hi all,
> > I need some pointers of where to read more about Linux's disk drive management.
> > 
> > I installed RedHat 7.3 on and asked it to be installed using the server configuration. This appears to have partitioned the drive into 6 partitions. (I allowed it to partition according to the installer's defaults.)
> > Of concern to me is /dev/hda2 has 20GB of space alocated and it is assigned to the /usr directory.
> > /dev/hda3 has about 8GB and is assigned to /home.
> 
> Never use defaults, they are bad.
> 
> I use:
> /  150MB
> swap (RAM x 2)
> /usr 2GB
> /var 200 - 500 MB
> /tmp 100 - 350 MB
> /home the rest of the drive
> 
> That makes it easy to upgrade or reinstall the OS without wiping out /home 
> for users.
> 
> No need for any other partitions IMO.
> 
> > The /home directory is where all my accounts are and where lots of files
> > will be stored. How can I keep it from running out of space? Will Linux
> > automatically switch to another partition for /home when /dev/hda3 fills up? 
> > Thanks!
> 
> You need to partition the drive for the functionality you intend to use 
> your server for. That means repartition it with smaller /usr and bigger 
> /home
> 
> The OS will not automaticaly use space on different partitions. It's not 
> windows to write all over the place.
> 
> > 
> > **  Travis Roth
> > www.TravisRoth.com
> > travis@travisroth.com
> 
> -- 
> Rafael
> The Gap Between the Rich and the Poor is Constant.

-- 
Rafael

Re: hard drive usage advice

[Boris DAIX]

"Travis Roth" <travis@travisroth.com> writes:

> Hi Rafael,
> Thanks for the tips. Unfortunately the thing is already installed and configured, hate to go to the work of wiping all things out again. Will wait till it is necessary I guess.
> I do agree on the defaults though, not good ones now that I understand what they actually are...
> There wouldn't happen to be any way to repartition without losing stuff, a Partition Magic for Linux?

One way (very very ugly) would be to set up soft RAID for merging all
partitions in one virtual, and to modify fstab so that all directories
goes on this new one... But this is very risked as if something goes
wrong, it would be hard to recover. But if you like risk... When
you'll install it cleanly, don't forget to make backups of /home from
the virtual patition...

Boris

>
> Thanks.
>
>
> **  Travis Roth
> www.TravisRoth.com
> travis@travisroth.com
>  
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: blinux-list-admin@redhat.com
> Sent: Sunday, June 30, 2002 6:04 PM
> To: blinux-list@redhat.com
> Subject: Re: hard drive usage advice
>
>
> On Sat, Jun 29, 2002 at 09:00:46PM -0500, Travis Roth wrote:
>> Hi all,
>> I need some pointers of where to read more about Linux's disk drive management.
>> 
>> I installed RedHat 7.3 on and asked it to be installed using the server configuration. This appears to have partitioned the drive into 6 partitions. (I allowed it to partition according to the installer's defaults.)
>> Of concern to me is /dev/hda2 has 20GB of space alocated and it is assigned to the /usr directory.
>> /dev/hda3 has about 8GB and is assigned to /home.
>
> Never use defaults, they are bad.
>
> I use:
> /  150MB
> swap (RAM x 2)
> /usr 2GB
> /var 200 - 500 MB
> /tmp 100 - 350 MB
> /home the rest of the drive
>
> That makes it easy to upgrade or reinstall the OS without wiping out /home 
> for users.
>
> No need for any other partitions IMO.
>
>> The /home directory is where all my accounts are and where lots of files
>> will be stored. How can I keep it from running out of space? Will Linux
>> automatically switch to another partition for /home when /dev/hda3 fills up? 
>> Thanks!
>
> You need to partition the drive for the functionality you intend to use 
> your server for. That means repartition it with smaller /usr and bigger 
> /home
>
> The OS will not automaticaly use space on different partitions. It's not 
> windows to write all over the place.
>
>> 
>> **  Travis Roth
>> www.TravisRoth.com
>> travis@travisroth.com
>
> -- 
> Rafael
> The Gap Between the Rich and the Poor is Constant.
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Blinux-list mailing list
> Blinux-list@redhat.com
> https://listman.redhat.com/mailman/listinfo/blinux-list
>
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Blinux-list mailing list
> Blinux-list@redhat.com
> https://listman.redhat.com/mailman/listinfo/blinux-list

Re: hard drive usage advice

[Gil Andre]

Hi Travis,

On Sat, 29 Jun 2002 21:00:46 -0500, Travis wrote:
> Hi all,
> I need some pointers of where to read more about
> Linux's disk drive management.

Hmmm. First of all, I am not sure this is a good message for
this list: what does this have to do with people with sight
disabilities and Linux?

Seems to me you could ask the same question on comp.os.linux.*
and probably get a better answer.

Anyway... <grin>

Here are my quick answers:

> I installed RedHat 7.3 on and asked it to be installed
> using the server configuration.

Question: what kind of server would you like to install?
You should always include as much information as you can
on what, exactly, you are trying to do and on what your
setup is.

> This appears to have partitioned the drive into 6
> partitions. (I allowed it to partition according to
> the installer's defaults.)

As somebody else remarked, the Red Hat "defaults" are
often very strange and/or broken beyond repair. Whenever
you install a Red Hat machine (or any other kind of free
UNIX system), just make sure *you* set up the disk, and
not Red Hat/SuSE/whatever. Remember: *you* know what the 
machine is going to be used for -- not Red Hat.

> Of concern to me is /dev/hda2 has 20GB of space alocated and
> it is assigned to the /usr directory.
> /dev/hda3 has about 8GB and is assigned to /home.

OK. Strange, but nor too strange, since /usr is going to
contain the software used for the services themselves.
Apache, for instance, can be quite big, especially if
you start adding all the modules and CGI-BIN. Same with
Sendmail and others.

> The /home directory is where all my accounts are and where lots
> of files will be stored. How can I keep it from running out of
> space?

Again: what kind of server are you trying to setup? If you
are putting together a mail system with POP3/SMTP, 8GB for
the /home directory is probably more than enough. An IMAP
server is a completely different beast, and may require 
humongous amounts of free disk space.

If you are setting up a server for print services, 8GB may
even be too much!

If you are setting up a web server 8GB may be too small --
it depends on the amount of space allocated to each user.
For instance, we have several web servers at my company,
running off old systems with 4GB disks. Works pretty well.
(But they are low-traffic web servers, I should add).

If you are putting together a file server, again, it depends
on the number of users and the space allocated to them. For
a smallish server, I'd go as far as saying that 8GB is more
than enough, again depending on the number of users and the
amount of space you allocate to each of them. For your info,
we have been running a Linux CVS server with a smallish
(16GB) disk without any problems, and that thing contains 
thousands of files.

If you are putting together a firewall, 8GB is plenty!

So... As you can see, the answer really depends on what kind
of server you'd like to put together. I can't help you unless
you tell me what you are trying to do, and I don't think anyone
else can.

>Will Linux automatically switch to another partition for /home
> when /dev/hda3 fills up?

Simple answer: No.

Simple solution? Add another disk when /home is getting filled up.
Check the status of the partition with the command "df -h", and,
for more details on what exactly is filling-up the partition or
which user need to calm down with his MP3, try "du -h".

As usual "man df" and "man du" are your best friends!

Hope this helps!

Regards,


-- 

Gil Andre          gandre@arkeia.com
         Technical Writer
Arkeia Corp.   http://www.arkeia.com

Re: hard drive usage advice

[Christian Schoepplein]

Hi!

On Mon, Jul 01, 2002 at 07:18:53 +0200, Boris DAIX wrote:
> "Travis Roth" <travis@travisroth.com> writes:

[...]
> > There wouldn't happen to be any way to repartition without losing 
> > stuff, a Partition Magic for Linux?

Take a look at gnu-parted, maybe your looking for a programm like that:

http://www.gnu.org/software/parted/parted.html

I don't know what kind of filesystem parted is able to handle, but I've 
successfully resized and moved vfat-Partitions (fat32).

Regards,
Schoeppi

-- 
Christian Schoepplein    | http://www.lily-rockt.de
mail@schoeppi.net        | http://www.lavish.de

Re: hard drive usage advice

[Henry Yen]

On Mon, Jul 01, 2002 at 05:51:09AM +0200, Christian Schoepplein wrote:
> On Mon, Jul 01, 2002 at 07:18:53 +0200, Boris DAIX wrote:
> > "Travis Roth" <travis@travisroth.com> writes:
> 
> [...]
> > > There wouldn't happen to be any way to repartition without losing 
> > > stuff, a Partition Magic for Linux?
> 
> Take a look at gnu-parted, maybe your looking for a programm like that:
> 
> http://www.gnu.org/software/parted/parted.html
> 
> I don't know what kind of filesystem parted is able to handle, but I've 
> successfully resized and moved vfat-Partitions (fat32).

actually, Partition Magic handles linux ext2 partitions (see
http://www.powerquest.com).  i've used partition magic, although it's
a bit of an overkill for this longer-term "problem" (also, it doesn't
come with a text-mode interface AFAIK).

note that you can often just use symbolic links to indefinitely
postpone having to repartition.

-- 
Henry Yen                                       Aegis Information Systems, Inc.
Senior Systems Programmer                       Hicksville, New York