Re: Best "one size fits all" FreeBSD partition layout

From: Wilhelm B. Kloke (wb_at_yorikke.arb-phys.uni-dortmund.de)
Date: 01/21/04 

Date: Wed, 21 Jan 2004 08:14:12 +0000 (UTC)

In article <tqmfzea7wxp.fsf@drizzle.com>,
Patrick Scheible <kkt@drizzle.com> wrote:
>smoker <amd@headru.sh> writes:
>
>> Is this a good/bad thing, and is it worth our while trying to get the dc
>> to change to a default FreeBSD partition arrangement ?
>
>There's pros and cons. Depends exactly what you're using it for.

I support most of the views presented here.

Personal opinion: Partitioning seems to me
*useful* only in the case of supporting diskless machines.
The traditional layout is not optimal in this case.
(Which means : almost senseless).

What is needed:
1 read-only filesystem
containing the files used for the OS
(containing /bin /lib /usr/bin /usr/lib /usr/local/bin /usr/local/lib
and libexec's and /usr/share)

1 read-write filesystem for user data

1 filesystem for /var and overrides to /etc and /boot.
For the diskless machines this can be canned in directories on the
user data partition.

>pro: as you make backups, you don't have to backup /temp, you can make
>fewer or no backups of root if they haven't changed from day to day.
>
> anti: but the time and space those partitions take is usually small
> compared to your data that you'll want to backup regardless.

Why making backups at all? Mirroring valuable data is more effective.

>pro: it's traditional and how it sets up by default.

Yes. That is why I do it, despite the opinions above.
I would like to see the default changed.

>pro: if you put the partitions on separate physical disks, you can get
>some performance benefit

Then you don't need partitions. Only disks. 

-- 
Dipl.-Math. Wilhelm Bernhard Kloke
Institut fuer Arbeitsphysiologie an der Universitaet Dortmund
Ardeystrasse 67, D-44139 Dortmund, Tel. 0231-1084-257

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