[3246] in linux-scsi channel archive
Re: Optimum partition arrangement with SCSI and IDE disks
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Ing. Michael Zieger, BSc.)
Sat Feb 7 01:37:25 1998
Date: Sat, 07 Feb 1998 00:45:02 +0100
To: Mr M S Aitchison <physmsa@cantua.canterbury.ac.nz>
From: "Ing. Michael Zieger, BSc." <m.zieger@kem.ac.at>
Cc: linux-scsi@vger.rutgers.edu
In-Reply-To: <Pine.SV4.3.95.980114093209.13783A-100000@cantua>
At 09:41 14.01.98 +1300, Mr M S Aitchison wrote:
>I traditionally partition a disk for Linux with the swap partition in
>between the system files (/,/usr, etc) partition and the users' data
>area to minimise head movement. If I have several disks I like to put
>the swap area roughly in the middle of the fastest least-used disk.
>But I don't know if this is still a good strategy with modern disks,
>and I especially would like to know if I should adopt a different strategy
>if I have a mixture of SCSI and IDE disks. For example: is swap on a
>modern fast IDE a good idea or will be inefficient? Is the quality of
>the SCSI disks/controller (e.g. tagged queue) going to change the optimum
>strategy??
1) Linux runs best when it doesn't have to swap
2) If it has to swap, it should only be very little, or at least only
during short peak-periods
3) Modern Harddisks are fastest on the outer side (cylinders from 0). So
_if_ your system must swap, maybe it is best if it swaps to the fastest
space on the harddrive, for best throughput. That's how I set up all Linux
systems.
4) If you're having a system that swaps all day, maybe the strategy with
"in the middle of the drive" is better. But it's then even better to put
more RAM into the machine... ;-)
see ya, mike
// Michael Zieger
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