[SLE] A couple of upgrade related questions
Okay, so the time has come to upgrade my machine, in a major way, and a couple of questions have come up that I would like to get some opinions on. 1) I want to use one big (30G) disk, ATA66 in the machine. What manufacturer(s) would be recommended (Seagate, Quantum, IBM, etc) 2) I am at a loss as far as a partitioning scheme for a drive that big. Does anyone have any thoughts on that? 3) Swap space, how much, located where on the disk? Any thoughts? -- This Email is 100% Virus Free! How do I know? Because no Microsoft products were used to generate it! ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Jon Tillman LINUX USER: #141163 ICQ: 4015362 tillmanj@sccoast.net http://tillman.freehosting.net ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: -- To unsubscribe send e-mail to suse-linux-e-unsubscribe@suse.com For additional commands send e-mail to suse-linux-e-help@suse.com Also check the FAQ at http://www.suse.com/support/faq
Hi John, I can provide some info from my own experiences. 1. I have just installed a new IBM 30Gb hdisk - to replace the new 30Gb Seagate that lasted only 3 weeks. It seems that the 30Gb Seagate suffers from overheating & vibration problems - it needs a cooling pack. The IBM is just sooooo sweet - it runs up beautifully, and is a lot quieter. This is the way I will go in future. 2. My partition scheme is as follows - in order: a. 1 sector -> /boot b. 512Mb -> swap (answer to point 3.) c. 10Gb -> / d. Remainder -> /home Best regards, Des Aubery... (adTherm Technologies, East London, E.Cape, South Africa) Jon Tillman wrote:
Okay, so the time has come to upgrade my machine, in a major way, and a couple of questions have come up that I would like to get some opinions on.
1) I want to use one big (30G) disk, ATA66 in the machine. What manufacturer(s) would be recommended (Seagate, Quantum, IBM, etc)
2) I am at a loss as far as a partitioning scheme for a drive that big. Does anyone have any thoughts on that?
3) Swap space, how much, located where on the disk? Any thoughts?
-- This Email is 100% Virus Free! How do I know? Because no Microsoft products were used to generate it!
::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Jon Tillman LINUX USER: #141163 ICQ: 4015362 tillmanj@sccoast.net http://tillman.freehosting.net :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
-- To unsubscribe send e-mail to suse-linux-e-unsubscribe@suse.com For additional commands send e-mail to suse-linux-e-help@suse.com Also check the FAQ at http://www.suse.com/support/faq
-- To unsubscribe send e-mail to suse-linux-e-unsubscribe@suse.com For additional commands send e-mail to suse-linux-e-help@suse.com Also check the FAQ at http://www.suse.com/support/faq
On Tue, 01 Aug 2000, Des Aubery spewed forth into the void:
Hi John,
I can provide some info from my own experiences.
1. I have just installed a new IBM 30Gb hdisk - to replace the new 30Gb Seagate that lasted only 3 weeks. It seems that the 30Gb Seagate suffers from overheating & vibration problems - it needs a cooling pack. The IBM is just sooooo sweet - it runs up beautifully, and is a lot quieter. This is the way I will go in future.
IBM it is then, thanks
2. My partition scheme is as follows - in order: a. 1 sector -> /boot b. 512Mb -> swap (answer to point 3.) c. 10Gb -> / d. Remainder -> /home
So, would the following be considered needlessly complex? [swap] 128M x2 / 001G /boot 1 sector /usr 010G /usr/local 007G /home 010G /var 500M /dump 002G /tmp 100M
Best regards,
Des Aubery... (adTherm Technologies, East London, E.Cape, South Africa)
Thanks for your help... This Email is 100% Virus Free! How do I know? Because no Microsoft products were used to generate it! ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Jon Tillman LINUX USER: #141163 ICQ: 4015362 tillmanj@sccoast.net http://tillman.freehosting.net ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: -- To unsubscribe send e-mail to suse-linux-e-unsubscribe@suse.com For additional commands send e-mail to suse-linux-e-help@suse.com Also check the FAQ at http://www.suse.com/support/faq
So, would the following be considered needlessly complex?
[swap] 128M x2 / 001G /boot 1 sector /usr 010G /usr/local 007G /home 010G /var 500M /dump 002G /tmp 100M
That would leave /opt in a 1 gig partition. Is that a bit of a squeeze? I have over 2 gigs of stuff in /opt on the SuSE-6.4 machine I'm typing this on. -- To unsubscribe send e-mail to suse-linux-e-unsubscribe@suse.com For additional commands send e-mail to suse-linux-e-help@suse.com Also check the FAQ at http://www.suse.com/support/faq
On Tue, 01 Aug 2000, Derek Fountain spewed forth into the void:
So, would the following be considered needlessly complex?
[swap] 128M x2 / 001G /boot 1 sector /usr 010G /usr/local 007G /home 010G /var 500M /dump 002G /tmp 100M
That would leave /opt in a 1 gig partition. Is that a bit of a squeeze? I have over 2 gigs of stuff in /opt on the SuSE-6.4 machine I'm typing this on.
Good point, I should probably shave some off here and there, probably from /usr and /usr/local (1g apiece maybe)
-- To unsubscribe send e-mail to suse-linux-e-unsubscribe@suse.com For additional commands send e-mail to suse-linux-e-help@suse.com Also check the FAQ at http://www.suse.com/support/faq
-- This Email is 100% Virus Free! How do I know? Because no Microsoft products were used to generate it! ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Jon Tillman LINUX USER: #141163 ICQ: 4015362 tillmanj@sccoast.net http://tillman.freehosting.net ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: -- To unsubscribe send e-mail to suse-linux-e-unsubscribe@suse.com For additional commands send e-mail to suse-linux-e-help@suse.com Also check the FAQ at http://www.suse.com/support/faq
Hi Jon, I initially considered splitting up the files system along similar lines to you, but on second thought opted to use the simple approach as I listed (repeat below):
2. My partition scheme is as follows - in order: a. 1 sector -> /boot b. 512Mb -> swap (answer to point 3.) c. 10Gb -> / d. Remainder -> /home
My logic was as follows: 1. I felt that it was preferable to leave all system, package and related software in the / (root) directory. This allows SuSE to put files into the relevant folders/directories as it sees fit. In other words - /usr ... /usr/local ... /var ... /dump ... /tmp ... are all located in the / partition. 2. Splitting up the directories invariably means that a lot of space gets wasted in each partition - this can add up...and so wastes a lot of space :-( 3. I split my "/home" partition into a number of user-group areas anyway - and tend to keep an master archive of additional software - in this partition - until it is archived to CD-rom. 4. I see no point in running 2 X 128Mb swapdisks - I would rather use 1 x 256Mb. 5. I find a simple system is easier to maintain... :-) Jon Tillman wrote:
On Tue, 01 Aug 2000, Derek Fountain spewed forth into the void:
So, would the following be considered needlessly complex?
[swap] 128M x2 / 001G /boot 1 sector /usr 010G /usr/local 007G /home 010G /var 500M /dump 002G /tmp 100M
That would leave /opt in a 1 gig partition. Is that a bit of a squeeze? I have over 2 gigs of stuff in /opt on the SuSE-6.4 machine I'm typing this on.
Good point, I should probably shave some off here and there, probably from /usr and /usr/local (1g apiece maybe)
Have lots of fun ... Best regards, Des Aubery... (adTherm Technologies, East London, E.Cape, South Africa) -- To unsubscribe send e-mail to suse-linux-e-unsubscribe@suse.com For additional commands send e-mail to suse-linux-e-help@suse.com Also check the FAQ at http://www.suse.com/support/faq
On Tue, 1 Aug 2000, Des Aubery wrote:
Hi Jon,
I initially considered splitting up the files system along similar lines to you, but on second thought opted to use the simple approach as I listed (repeat below):
2. My partition scheme is as follows - in order: a. 1 sector -> /boot b. 512Mb -> swap (answer to point 3.) c. 10Gb -> / d. Remainder -> /home
My logic was as follows:
1. I felt that it was preferable to leave all system, package and related software in the / (root) directory. This allows SuSE to put files into the relevant folders/directories as it sees fit. In other words - /usr ... /usr/local ... /var ... /dump ... /tmp ... are all located in the / partition.
2. Splitting up the directories invariably means that a lot of space gets wasted in each partition - this can add up...and so wastes a lot of space :-(
3. I split my "/home" partition into a number of user-group areas anyway - and tend to keep an master archive of additional software - in this partition - until it is archived to CD-rom.
4. I see no point in running 2 X 128Mb swapdisks - I would rather use 1 x 256Mb.
How can single 256Mb swap partition be used? AFAIK, it can't be bigger than 128Mb, but you can combine many swap partitions. -Kastus
5. I find a simple system is easier to maintain... :-)
Jon Tillman wrote:
On Tue, 01 Aug 2000, Derek Fountain spewed forth into the void:
So, would the following be considered needlessly complex?
[swap] 128M x2 / 001G /boot 1 sector /usr 010G /usr/local 007G /home 010G /var 500M /dump 002G /tmp 100M
That would leave /opt in a 1 gig partition. Is that a bit of a squeeze? I have over 2 gigs of stuff in /opt on the SuSE-6.4 machine I'm typing this on.
Good point, I should probably shave some off here and there, probably from /usr and /usr/local (1g apiece maybe)
Have lots of fun ...
Best regards,
Des Aubery... (adTherm Technologies, East London, E.Cape, South Africa)
-- To unsubscribe send e-mail to suse-linux-e-unsubscribe@suse.com For additional commands send e-mail to suse-linux-e-help@suse.com Also check the FAQ at http://www.suse.com/support/faq
-- To unsubscribe send e-mail to suse-linux-e-unsubscribe@suse.com For additional commands send e-mail to suse-linux-e-help@suse.com Also check the FAQ at http://www.suse.com/support/faq
Hi Kastus, 256Mb swap partition works fine in SuSE 6.4. I understand that previous kernels had the 128Mb swap limit - later kernels seem to have raised this to around 1Gb. Perhaps some other folk could comment... Best regards, Des Aubery... (adTherm Technologies, East London, E.Cape, South Africa) kastus wrote:
On Tue, 1 Aug 2000, Des Aubery wrote:
Hi Jon,
I initially considered splitting up the files system along similar lines to you, but on second thought opted to use the simple approach as I listed (repeat below):
2. My partition scheme is as follows - in order: a. 1 sector -> /boot b. 512Mb -> swap (answer to point 3.) c. 10Gb -> / d. Remainder -> /home
My logic was as follows:
1. I felt that it was preferable to leave all system, package and related software in the / (root) directory. This allows SuSE to put files into the relevant folders/directories as it sees fit. In other words - /usr ... /usr/local ... /var ... /dump ... /tmp ... are all located in the / partition.
2. Splitting up the directories invariably means that a lot of space gets wasted in each partition - this can add up...and so wastes a lot of space :-(
3. I split my "/home" partition into a number of user-group areas anyway - and tend to keep an master archive of additional software - in this partition - until it is archived to CD-rom.
4. I see no point in running 2 X 128Mb swapdisks - I would rather use 1 x 256Mb.
How can single 256Mb swap partition be used? AFAIK, it can't be bigger than 128Mb, but you can combine many swap partitions.
-Kastus
5. I find a simple system is easier to maintain... :-)
Jon Tillman wrote:
On Tue, 01 Aug 2000, Derek Fountain spewed forth into the void:
So, would the following be considered needlessly complex?
[swap] 128M x2 / 001G /boot 1 sector /usr 010G /usr/local 007G /home 010G /var 500M /dump 002G /tmp 100M
That would leave /opt in a 1 gig partition. Is that a bit of a squeeze? I have over 2 gigs of stuff in /opt on the SuSE-6.4 machine I'm typing this on.
Good point, I should probably shave some off here and there, probably from /usr and /usr/local (1g apiece maybe)
Have lots of fun ...
Best regards,
Des Aubery... (adTherm Technologies, East London, E.Cape, South Africa)
-- To unsubscribe send e-mail to suse-linux-e-unsubscribe@suse.com For additional commands send e-mail to suse-linux-e-help@suse.com Also check the FAQ at http://www.suse.com/support/faq
-- To unsubscribe send e-mail to suse-linux-e-unsubscribe@suse.com For additional commands send e-mail to suse-linux-e-help@suse.com Also check the FAQ at http://www.suse.com/support/faq
-- <html> <head> <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"> <meta name="GENERATOR" content="Mozilla/4.73 [en] (X11; I; Linux 2.2.15pre3 ppc) [Netscape]"> </head> <body> <font face="Arial,Helvetica"></font> <font face="Arial,Helvetica">Best regards,</font><font face="Arial,Helvetica"></font> <font face="Arial,Helvetica">Des Aubery...</font> <font face="Arial,Helvetica">(adTherm Technologies, East London, E.Cape, South Africa)</font> <font face="Arial,Helvetica"></font> <font face="Arial,Helvetica"></font> </body> </html> -- To unsubscribe send e-mail to suse-linux-e-unsubscribe@suse.com For additional commands send e-mail to suse-linux-e-help@suse.com Also check the FAQ at http://www.suse.com/support/faq
Des Aubery tapped away at the keyboard with:
256Mb swap partition works fine in SuSE 6.4.
I understand that previous kernels had the 128Mb swap limit - later kernels seem to have raised this to around 1Gb.
Perhaps some other folk could comment...
It's been mentioned previously that you should distribute swap over as many drives as you can afford, giving Linux the best opportunity to minimise I/O contention. 128MB would have therefore been enough; prior to the most-recent bloat iteration. I usually allocate a primary swap on the fastest disk, of about double physical RAM, but no larger than 128MB, then add another of around the same size on another spindle; or paired swaps at the same priority on a couple of other slow disks. mkswap(8) for limitations, etc, and swapon(2) for the twiddly bits about priorities, etc. -- Bernd Felsche - Innovative Reckoning Perth, Western Australia -- To unsubscribe send e-mail to suse-linux-e-unsubscribe@suse.com For additional commands send e-mail to suse-linux-e-help@suse.com Also check the FAQ at http://www.suse.com/support/faq
Hi all, Perhaps I should mention that I am running 750Mb ram, on an 850MHz AMD Athlon. The large swap partition at 512Mb is to cater for eventual spills from the large memory. I am processing complex CFD routines, and thus need to call on every bit of memory possible. Of course, when swap is eventually used, the computing performance goes through the floor - when compared to running directly in ram itself. I will push the ram up to 1.5Gb when the prices become more realistic. Best regards, Des Aubery... (adTherm Technologies, East London, E.Cape, South Africa) Bernd Felsche wrote:
Des Aubery tapped away at the keyboard with:
256Mb swap partition works fine in SuSE 6.4.
I understand that previous kernels had the 128Mb swap limit - later kernels seem to have raised this to around 1Gb.
Perhaps some other folk could comment...
It's been mentioned previously that you should distribute swap over as many drives as you can afford, giving Linux the best opportunity to minimise I/O contention.
128MB would have therefore been enough; prior to the most-recent bloat iteration. I usually allocate a primary swap on the fastest disk, of about double physical RAM, but no larger than 128MB, then add another of around the same size on another spindle; or paired swaps at the same priority on a couple of other slow disks.
mkswap(8) for limitations, etc, and swapon(2) for the twiddly bits about priorities, etc.
-- Bernd Felsche - Innovative Reckoning Perth, Western Australia
-- To unsubscribe send e-mail to suse-linux-e-unsubscribe@suse.com For additional commands send e-mail to suse-linux-e-help@suse.com Also check the FAQ at http://www.suse.com/support/faq
-- To unsubscribe send e-mail to suse-linux-e-unsubscribe@suse.com For additional commands send e-mail to suse-linux-e-help@suse.com Also check the FAQ at http://www.suse.com/support/faq
Des Aubery tapped away at the keyboard with:
Perhaps I should mention that I am running 750Mb ram, on an 850MHz AMD Athlon.
The large swap partition at 512Mb is to cater for eventual spills from the large memory.
If swap is split over multiple disks and the system is not doing much else than the CFD, then the paging which will occur will probably be a small amount; significant but not disasterous. That is, if the algorithm used has a semblance of locality with a working set somewhat smaller than physical memory. Much numerical analysis deals with large address spaces, but sparse data. But your algorithms may change that perspective.
I am processing complex CFD routines, and thus need to call on every bit of memory possible. Of course, when swap is eventually used, the computing performance goes through the floor - when compared to running directly in ram itself.
I will push the ram up to 1.5Gb when the prices become more realistic.
That's always a good idea if you need that large a data set. You may also want to considerwhat happens if you're almost finished with the processing and the program or system stops. Memory-mapped files could be worth a look if you're interested in restartability for long-running number-crunches; and you have control of the source code. -- Bernd Felsche - Innovative Reckoning Perth, Western Australia -- To unsubscribe send e-mail to suse-linux-e-unsubscribe@suse.com For additional commands send e-mail to suse-linux-e-help@suse.com Also check the FAQ at http://www.suse.com/support/faq
participants (5)
-
bernie＠innovative.iinet.net.au -
daubery＠mweb.co.za -
fountai＠hursley.ibm.com -
kastus＠tsoft.com -
tillmanj＠sccoast.net