Thoughts on partitioning with Linux for the first time..?

ElAmir

Hi, this is finally my official break-in into the open source linux world. I've read about and tested different Distros for a while now, and I think I'm ready to start migrating.

I am currently running windows 7 on a 500GB HDD, which (including all media files) leaves only some space for a small ubuntu test run that I installed.

Now I am trying to migrate into Linux but I don't want to lose Windows just yet.

I am thinking of Refreshing Windows7, moving all the data onto a separate partition and installing Linux on a third. I would format the data partition as FAT32 so all my media can be accessed from either OS. I would also leave space on the main OS partitions for installed programs.

That is my plan of action, I would appreciate it if I could get feedback and/or thoughts before I start acting.

Also I am debating between Ubuntu and LinuxMint, and I'm not sure (although leaning a bit to LM).

Thoughts, feedback and tips would be appreciated.

Thanks

ElAmir

bingrenling

That seems like a fine plan. I would just remind you that Windows will create two partitions on a default install. This means you cannot have a normal swap partition due to the 4 partition per disk limit.

You can still create one post install:

dd if=/dev/zero of=/swapfile.img bs=1M count=2048;
mkswap /swapfile.img;
swapon /swapfile.img

Then, add it to your /etc/fstab

If you get a second HDD, however, there are some other considerations.

Often, it is a good idea to separate your OS and home folder.

Many people also like to separate /var

A typical scheme may look something like:

/ - 15GB
/var - 15GB
/home - 100GB
swap - 2GB

On a web server, you might see something more akin to:

/ - 15GB
/var - 15GB
/var/http - 100GB
swap - 2GB