Stricklin, Raymond J wrote:
Probably. Generally accepted practice in the Unix world
separates /, /usr, /var, /opt, /home, and /srv (if used) into
distinct filesystems.
I'm going to have to respectfully disagree.
Making separate filesystems without understanding the _reasons_ for
making things separate filesystems is not a long-term recipe for
success.
Most of the reasons are technical and related to the comparatively
limited hardware capacity of UNIX systems in the '70s and '80s.
Filesystems were split up so that they could fit on the disks which were
available at the time, and to simplify backups in an era of ~60 MB tapes
and tools no more sophisticated than 'dump'.
Now disks are huge and backup tools are sophisticated enough that
filesystem dumps seem hopelessly archaic. These are good things, in the
big picture.
The big drivers for splitting up filesystems these days are to keep
users from filling up the wrong disks, and to keep things running
smoothly for your operators. There's no reason to make directories which
are relatively static and are not subject to being filled by users into
separate filesystems. If you're running a server which won't have any
users logging into it, making /home a separate filesystem is pointless.
It adds to the complexity of maintaining the system without adding a
commensurate benefit. If /opt isn't going to have much in it or change
very often, there's not a lot of reason to split it into its own
filesystem.
If, as frequently happens here, nobody knows what the server will look
like six months down the road, or what software will be on it, making
/opt a separate logical volume---which can be grown as required---is a
very good idea.
If your site, like ours, isn't ruthlessly efficient at managing logfile
sizes, and your operators are basically punished by getting paged
whenever root hits 80% at three in the morning, and you can turn the
problem into something that can be dealt with in the morning by making
/var a separate filesystem, do it.
I'd say that today, in general, if you don't know why you're splitting
it out, don't split it out.
Data, on the other hand, should almost always be separate. Especially if
it's data which is not controlled by the system administrators. (i.e.,
/srv -- a SuSE convention which I personally find loathesome)
Its part of the Filesystem Hierarchy Standard (FHS)
<http://www.pathname.com/fhs/>
/srv Data for services provided by the system
You have a complaint, take it up with them
FHS is part of the Linux Standard Base (LSB)
<http://www.linux-foundation.org/en/LSB>
Kim
--
Kim Goldenberg
Systems Programmer I
State of NJ - OIT
609-777-3722
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
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