Installing Linux

Choosing a File System

Choosing a file system: Ext2 o Second Extended File System o Stores data in a hierarchical fashion o Maximum file size of 2 terabytes (TB) o Maximum volume size of 4 terabytes (TB) o On improper shutdown Checks entire system Uses utility e2fschk Could take hours depending on the amount of data Ext3 Third Extended File System Uses many of the same utilities as ext2 You can upgrade/downgrade between ext3 and ext2 easily Maximum number of sub directories is 32,000 Offers journaling Logs each transaction as incomplete first After each transaction is complete it is then marked complete o On improper shutdown: Checks only incomplete transactions Saves time on boot up o Cons Decreased system performance Uses more system memory Slows down the disk I/O operations Ext4 o Fourth Extended File System o Backwards compatible with ext2/ext3 o 64,000 subdirectory limitation o Maximum file size of 16 terabytes (TB) o Maximum volume size of 1 exabyte Reiser o Utilizes journaling. o Uses a completely different file system type then ext2 and ext3 o o o o o

 Faster then ext3 and ext2 o Maximum file size of 8 terabytes (TB) o Maximum volume size of 16 terabytes (TB)

Installing Linux

Planning Your Partitions

Recommended File System Scheme This should be planned out before installing your system. It is recommended that you create multiple partitions to ensure system stability. / o Your Root Directory o Should be a minimum 4 gigabytes (GB) or larger /boot o Contains the Linux system files o Should be around 100-200 megabytes (MB) /home o Stores user account data and user files o Make it large enough to accommodate users data. /opt o Stores the application files installed o Should be large enough to accommodate the applications that use this directory. /tmp o Stores temporary files o Should be at least 1 gigabyte (GB) or bigger. /usr o Stores system utilities o Should be at least 5 gigabytes (GB) or larger depending on the packages you decide to install. /var o Stores log files o Should at least be 3 gigabytes (GB). swap o This should be at least double the size of your system memory or more.