Questions about the partition scheme for setting up an office server

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1

Hello everybody, I have to set up the following machine and I am unsure about the partitioning scheme.
This is a server for an office. Hadrdwarewise it runs a hard-raid with 2x500 GB, so 500 are available for install. For software compatibility it will run KVM-virtualized Windows XP because of software compatibility. It will store as well user data. Therefore a separate /home seems to be indicated. As KVM apparently stores the virtual machines in /var/lib/kvm/images/ I thought about having a separate /var partition. The system should be upgradable without loosing settings and virtual machines. This would give the following proposal:


boot set from MBR /swap (2,1 GB) - the machine will be 12.1-64with 16 GB RAM / (30 GB) /var (I thought to make it 100 GB to allow for several clones) /home (rest of disk)

Is this scheme O.K. or does it contain logical pitfalls? Does the proposed swap suffice? Thank you.

2

On 2012-03-20 13:06, stakanov wrote:

> As KVM apparently stores the virtual
> machines in /var/lib/kvm/images/ I thought about having a separate /var
> partition.

I would do a separate /var/lib/kvm/images/ partition instead. On some
cases, a separate /var could also be indicated.

> The system should be upgradable without loosing settings and
> virtual machines.

If you use only a separate /var partition, all the data in /var would be
kept on reinstall, and that is not what you want.

…

> Is this scheme O.K. or does it contain logical pitfalls? Does the
> proposed swap suffice? Thank you.

Me, I like swap at least as big as the ram, but it is not a necessity
unless you hibernate, or use applications that needs lots of memory, like
java applications.

Another possibility is to leave space unpartitioned, so that you can use it
later and adapt. Others would use LVM.

Another one I like is have two equal root partitions, one with the current
openSUSE version, the other with the next when the time comes. You don’t
install on top, you install on a spare partition, and if it doesn’t work
well you have the old system intact. In this case, I would use generic MBR
code, mark one of the roots as bootable (must be primaries), and install
grub in root. This way you choose which system to “permanently” boot by
changing the bootable partition mark, and each system controls completely
its own grub (ie, no one writes to the MBR).

–
Cheers / Saludos,

Carlos E. R.
(from 11.4 x86_64 “Celadon” at Telcontar)