HOWTO: Multi Disk System Tuning HOWTO: Multi Disk System Tuning Stein Gjoen, [e-mail]0.17, 3 February 1998This document describes how best to use multiple disks and partitions for a Linux system. Although some of this text is Linux specific the general approach outlined here can be applied to many other multi tasking operating systems.1. Introduction1.1 Copyright1.2 Disclaimer1.3 News1.4 Credits2. Structure2.1 Logical structure2.2 Document structure3. Drive technologies3.1 Drives3.2 Geometry3.3 Media3.4 Interfaces3.5 Cabling3.6 Host Adapters3.7 Multi Channel Systems3.8 Multi Board Systems3.9 Speed Comparison3.10 Benchmarking3.11 Comparisons3.12 Future Development3.13 Recommendations4. Considerations4.1 File system features4.2 Explanation of terms4.3 Technologies5. Other Operating Systems5.1 DOS5.2 Windows5.3 OS/25.4 NT5.5 Sun OS6. Clusters7. Mount Points8. Disk Layout8.1 Selection for partitioning8.2 Mapping partitions to drives8.3 Sorting partitions on drives8.4 Optimizing8.5 Usage requirements8.6 Servers8.7 Pitfalls8.8 Compromises9. Implementation9.1 Drives and Partitions9.2 Partitioning9.3 Multiple devices (md)9.4 Formatting9.5 Mounting10. Maintenance10.1 Backup10.2 Defragmentation10.3 Deletions10.4 Upgrades11. Advanced Issues11.1 Hard Disk Tuning11.2 File System Tuning11.3 Spindle Synchronizing12. Further Information12.1 News groups12.2 Mailing lists12.3 HOWTO12.4 Mini-HOWTO12.5 Local resources12.6 Web pages12.7 Search engines13. Getting Help14. Concluding Remarks14.1 Coming Soon14.2 Request for Information14.3 Suggested Project Work15. Questions and Answers16. Bits and Pieces16.1 Combining swap and /tmp16.2 Interleaved swap drives.16.3 Swap partition: to use or not to use16.4 Mount point and /mnt16.5 SCSI id numbers and names16.6 Power and Heating16.7 Dejanews16.8 File system structure16.9 Track numbering and optimizing schemes17. Appendix A: Partitioning layout table: mounting and linking18. Appendix B: Partitioning layout table: numbering and sizing19. Appendix C: Partitioning layout table: partition placement20. Appendix D: Example: Multipurpose server21. Appendix E: Example: mounting and linking22. Appendix F: Example: numbering and sizing23. Appendix G: Example: partition placement24. Appendix H: Example II25. Appendix I: Example III: SPARC Solaris G