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    Which partitions would you put on software raid0?

    Discussion in 'Linux Compatibility and Software' started by psymin, Apr 21, 2011.

  1. psymin

    psymin Notebook Enthusiast

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    I'm impatiently waiting for my Alienware m17x r3 laptop to be delivered.

    I went with this system primarily because of the 4 RAM slots and the two internal 2.5" drives.

    Since the primary OS will be Gentoo, there will be a lot of compiling going on for software updates. ..

    Here is what I'm thinking so far:

    swap
    /tmp
    /var/tmp/portage (for emerge compiles)
    /usr/portage (for quick emerge queries and syncs)
    /mnt/virtualbox (this will be for virtualbox images)
    /var/db (for eix queries and updates)


    All these directories contain non-essential data that I can recreate if the raid fails .. also they contain things that will benefit (I believe) in IO improvements.

    What would you put on RAID 0? What am I forgetting?

    --- Additionally, should I consider SSD for one of the drives and bypass software RAID0 completely?
     
    psymin, Apr 21, 2011
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  2. lupusarcanus

    lupusarcanus Notebook Consultant

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    Yes. 100%.
     
    lupusarcanus, Apr 22, 2011
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  3. ThinkRob

    ThinkRob Notebook Deity

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    My rule of thumb ('cause I love a good rule of thumb, or even a good-sounding one) is that if you have the cash, knowledge, and/or workload that lead you to ask the question "Should I use an SSD for ______", the answer is invariably yes.
     
    ThinkRob, Apr 25, 2011
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  4. ThinkLover

    ThinkLover Notebook Consultant

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    If I were you, I would put the whole / on SSD, and /mnt/omgthisismystuff on big, platter drive.
     
    ThinkLover, Apr 25, 2011
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  5. lupusarcanus

    lupusarcanus Notebook Consultant

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    Same here, though I'd just mount /home on the platter drive instead of /mnt/omgthisismystuff. Maybe I'm boring. :D :p
     
    lupusarcanus, Apr 25, 2011
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  6. ThinkLover

    ThinkLover Notebook Consultant

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    /home contain caches, configs etc. so it would be nice to acces those very fast :rolleyes:
     
    ThinkLover, Apr 26, 2011
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  7. psymin

    psymin Notebook Enthusiast

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    Good point about /home vs /mnt/omgthisismystuff .. I like to have /home as an encrypted partition so I think I'll keep that on the platter for simplicity rather than setting up two crypted partitions (one for /home on SSD and one for omgthisismystuff on platter).

    Any suggestions on which SSD to get?

    In theory the m17x r3 supports SATA III.

    I don't care too much about speed (any SSD is going to be blazing fast to my untrained eye). I do care about reliabililty, positive ratings, and price per gig :)

    Thinking about this one currently: Newegg.com - Crucial RealSSD C300 CTFDDAC128MAG-1G1 2.5" 128GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)

    251 reviews and still a 5* rating ..
     
    psymin, Apr 26, 2011
    #7