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Network Operating Systems-I
notes Once the partitions are made, you can only add more. Changing sizes or properties of existing
partitions is possible but not advisable.
The division of hard disks into partitions is determined by the system administrator. On larger
systems, he or she may even spread one partition over several hard disks, using the appropriate
software. Most distributions allow for standard setups optimized for workstations (average users)
and for general server purposes, but also accept customized partitions. During the installation
process you can define your own partition layout using either your distribution specific tool,
which is usually a straight forward graphical interface, or fdisk, a text-based tool for creating
partitions and setting their properties.
A workstation or client installation is for use by mainly one and the same person. The selected
software for installation reflects this and the stress is on common user packages, such as nice
desktop themes, development tools, client programs for E-mail, multimedia software, web and
other services. Everything is put together on one large partition, swap space twice the amount of
RAM is added and your generic workstation is complete, providing the largest amount of disk
space possible for personal use, but with the disadvantage of possible data integrity loss during
problem situations.
On a server, system data tends to be separate from user data. Programs that offer services are
kept in a different place than the data handled by this service. Different partitions will be created
on such systems:
1. a partition with all data necessary to boot the machine
2. a partition with configuration data and server programs
3. one or more partitions containing the server data such as database tables, user mails, an ftp
archive etc.
4. a partition with user programs and applications
5. one or more partitions for the user specific files (home directories)
6. one or more swap partitions (virtual memory)
Servers usually have more memory and thus more swap space. Certain server processes, such as
databases, may require more swap space than usual; see the specific documentation for detailed
information. For better performance, swap is often divided into different swap partitions.
Task Explain the major partitions of linux system
mount points
All partitions are attached to the system via a mount point. The mount point defines the place
of a particular data set in the file system. Usually, all partitions are connected through the root
partition. On this partition, which is indicated with the slash (/), directories are created. These
empty directories will be the starting point of the partitions that are attached to them. An example,
given a partition that holds the following directories:
videos/ cd-images/ pictures/
We want to attach this partition in the filesystem in a directory called /opt/media. In order
to do this, the system administrator has to make sure that the directory /opt/media exists on
the system. Preferably, it should be an empty directory. Then, using the mount command,
the administrator can attach the partition to the system. When you look at the content of the
formerly empty directory /opt/media, it will contain the files and directories that are on the
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