partitioning

Treacle_2-2

Hi guys and gals
I was wondering if any of you can help me please?
I am having a computor built for me with 2 hard drives and also having raid put on as well, the reason being is that my last computor crashed big time and i have lost all my pics, files, music etc.
I was after some advice regarding partitioning?
I am having 250 gb installed on both hard drives now i sort of understand what partitioning is to a fashion i think? should i partition the second hard drive the same as the first drive?
Is there a web site that explains pertitioning for beginers ie not that hot on computor things, also the way i was thinking of partitioning is,
150gb
60gb
40gb
what do any of you clever people think?
cheers for any advice.
nic

robt_2

Any particular reason you want to split it into three?

If it is just for security of not loosing all documents etc, then it is a bit pointless as I assume your RAID configuration will just be to mirror the drives?

fwor

It really depends on what you are going to use the computer for.

If it's just for storing general user data - e.g. your photos, emails, etc - then you probably only need 2 partitions: one for the OS and the other for all your user data. That way if you put so much user data on that you fill up the partition, the PC will still boot up ok. 20Gb for the OS and the rest for your user data should be fine, unless you plan to install lots of applications - in which case make it larger.

If you are going to run more than one OS (e.g. Windows and Linux) then it's good to have a separate partition for each.

If you have an application (e.g. a PVR) which can generate large amounts of data, it may well be worth having a separate (large) partition devoted purely to that.

Treacle_2-2

hi robt
no reason why i would split it into 3 i just dont fully understand partitioning.
that is what i am having raid for to mirror my files.
the reason i am asking about partitioning is because they have put it on ie: asked how i want to do it if i want to, i just dont want to not put any partitioning in if i did need it, if you know what i am trying to say there?

jje_2

I use two 250 GB drives each partitioned into three .
C drive is set at 80GB
D drive is the one where i put my Work via a shortcut on the desktop thats unfinished stuff
E is a Recovery partition with a couple of images on .

F has drivers downloaded programs and copies of pics docs email address

G is a music and video drive

H used for space for transcoding and Virtual Machines

OS problem and i just reimage a good setup back to the C drive from recovery partition .

jje

russ_gillespie

Personally I always partition my disks into 3. One for the OS, one for Programs, and the last for Documents/Downloads.

For the average user a single partition is fine, you waste less space too. But there are clear advantages to having more than one partition.

Good on you for going to down the RAID route by the way. I personally RAID my disks for speed rather than safety and then have a separate backup disk, but mirroring definately sounds best for you.

Treacle_2-2

so should i still partition sounds like i should.
do you have different paramitors for the second drive? sorry if that sounds thick but i am just trying to clarify everything in my mind.
maybe have less on c drive maybe 90gb instead of 150 and divide the other 2 equally on each drive?
sorry if i sound a bit thick guys but as i said i dont want to make a big mistake and get this wrong.
cheers

superscaper

I've had things go wrong with hardware and software etc and I can honestly say I don't think I've ever been in a situation where having partitions would either have helped or made the slightest difference. The only possible genuine advantage AFAIC for partitions is for booting multiple OSes.

jje_2

Does not matter what the size of the partitions are on any drive .

Though you said in first post the two drives are in a RAID set up so that will take space from both drives as RAID writes across both drives .
The bottom line is that you need a second partition to put a copy of the stuff on that you dont want to loose .
In my case this disaster backup is possible over kill with stuff copied to a partition also backed up on a USB drive and some further on to cd . Depends how critical the data is . Hard drives fail usually when you have forgotten to back up stuff .

jje

TonyLisaP

I have two hdd's one 300GB and the other 250GB I don't mess about with either of them. I do a complete system backup to the d:\ once a week and back up my documents whenever they are updated. Any problems, boot from CD and select the full backup. Walla system back up and running exactly the way it was in about 15 minutes.

Treacle_2-2

thanks guys it is all becoming clearer now i hope.
preety sure what i am going to do regarding partitioning as i do not want to loose my pictures again music can be replaced my pics cant thats the downside of computors and modern technology i guess.