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9.14.5. Recommended Partitioning Scheme

9.14.5.1. x86, AMD64, and Intel 64 systems

Unless you have a reason for doing otherwise, we recommend that you create the following partitions for x86, AMD64, and Intel 64 systems:
  • A swap partition
  • A /boot partition
  • A / partition
  • A /home partition
  • A swap partition (at least 256 MB)
    Swap partitions support virtual memory: data is written to a swap partition when there is not enough RAM to store the data your system is processing.
    In years past, the recommended amount of swap space increased linearly with the amount of RAM in the system. Modern systems often include hundreds of gigabytes of RAM, however. As a consequence, recommended swap space is considered a function of system memory workload, not system memory.
    The following table provides the recommended size of a swap partition depending on the amount of RAM in your system and whether you want sufficient memory for your system to hibernate. The recommended swap partition size is established automatically during installation. To allow for hibernation, however, you will need to edit the swap space in the custom partitioning stage.
    Table 9.2. Recommended System Swap Space
    Amount of RAM in the system Recommended swap space Recommended swap space if allowing for hibernation
    ⩽ 2GB 2 times the amount of RAM 3 times the amount of RAM
    > 2GB – 8GB Equal to the amount of RAM 2 times the amount of RAM
    > 8GB – 64GB 0.5 times the amount of RAM 1.5 times the amount of RAM
    > 64GB 4GB of swap space No extra space needed

    At the border between each range listed above (for example, a system with 2GB, 8GB, or 64GB of system RAM), discretion can be exercised with regard to chosen swap space and hibernation support. If your system resources allow for it, increasing the swap space may lead to better performance.
    Note that distributing swap space over multiple storage devices — particularly on systems with fast drives, controllers and interfaces — also improves swap space performance.
  • A /boot/ partition (500 MB)
    The partition mounted on /boot/ contains the operating system kernel (which allows your system to boot Fedora), along with files used during the bootstrap process. For most users, a 500 MB boot partition is sufficient.

    Note

    If your hard drive is more than 1024 cylinders (and your system was manufactured more than two years ago), you may need to create a /boot/ partition if you want the / (root) partition to use all of the remaining space on your hard drive.

    Note

    If you have a RAID card, be aware that some BIOSes do not support booting from the RAID card. In cases such as these, the /boot/ partition must be created on a partition outside of the RAID array, such as on a separate hard drive.
  • A root partition (3.0 GB - 5.0 GB)
    This is where "/" (the root directory) is located. In this setup, all files (except those stored in /boot) are on the root partition.
    A 3 GB partition allows you to install a minimal installation. For a full desktop installation, a minimum of 20GB for the root partition is recommended.

    Root and /root

    The / (or root) partition is the top of the directory structure. The /root directory/root (sometimes pronounced "slash-root") directory is the home directory of the user account for system administration.
  • A home partition (at least 100 MB)
    To store user data separately from system data, create a dedicated partition within a volume group for the /home directory. This will enable you to upgrade or reinstall Fedora without erasing user data files.
Many systems have more partitions than the minimum listed above. Choose partitions based on your particular system needs. Refer to Section 9.14.5.1.1, “Advice on Partitions” for more information.
If you create many partitions instead of one large / partition, upgrades become easier.
The following table summarizes minimum partition sizes for the partitions containing the listed directories. You do not have to make a separate partition for each of these directories. For instance, if the partition containing /foo must be at least 2 GB, and you do not make a separate /foo partition, then the / (root) partition must be at least 2 GB.
Table 9.3. Minimum partition sizes
Directory Minimum size
/ 2 GB
/usr /usr on a seperate partition is not supported.
/tmp tmpfs by default, 50 MB otherwise.
/var 500 MB
/home 100 MB
/boot 250 MB

Leave Excess Capacity Unallocated

Only assign storage capacity to those partitions you require immediately. You may allocate free space at any time, to meet needs as they occur. To learn about a more flexible method for storage management, refer to Appendix D, Understanding LVM.
If you are not sure how best to configure the partitions for your computer, accept the default partition layout.
9.14.5.1.1. Advice on Partitions
Optimal partition setup depends on the usage for the Linux system in question. The following tips may help you decide how to allocate your disk space.
  • Consider encrypting any partitions that might contain sensitive data. Encryption prevents unauthorized people from accessing the data on the partitions, even if they have access to the physical storage device. In most cases, you should at least encrypt the /home partition.
  • Each kernel installed on your system requires approximately 220 MB on the /boot partition. The boot partition can also be used during upgrades, so leaving extra room is recommended. Unless you plan to install a great many kernels, the default partition size of 500 MB for /boot should suffice.
  • The /var directory holds content for a number of applications, including the Apache web server. It also is used to store downloaded update packages on a temporary basis. Ensure that the partition containing the /var directory has enough space to download pending updates and hold your other content.

    Warning

    The PackageKit update software downloads updated packages to /var/cache/yum/ by default. If you partition the system manually, and create a separate /var/ partition, be sure to create the partition large enough (3.0 GB or more) to download package updates.
  • The /usr directory holds the majority of software content on a Fedora system. Because crucial applications and utilities are located in /usr, Fedora does not support placing it on a separate partition.

    Do not place /usr on a separate file system

    If /usr is on a separate file system from /, the boot process becomes much more complex because /usr contains boot-critical components. In some situations (like installations on iSCSI drives), the boot process might not work at all.
  • Consider leaving a portion of the space in an LVM volume group unallocated. This unallocated space gives you flexibility if your space requirements change but you do not wish to remove data from other partitions to reallocate storage.
  • If you separate subdirectories into partitions, you can retain content in those subdirectories if you decide to install a new version of Fedora over your current system. For instance, if you intend to run a MySQL database in /var/lib/mysql, make a separate partition for that directory in case you need to reinstall later.
  • Certain platforms have specific partitioning requirements:
    • An EFI boot disk must have an EFI System Partition (ESP) between 50MB and 200MB.
    • Power Systems servers must have one of the following partitions: /boot/efi with an HFS+ file system, Apple Bootstrap, or a PPC PReP boot partition.
The following table is a possible partition setup for a system with a single, new 80 GB hard disk and 1 GB of RAM. Note that approximately 10 GB of the volume group is unallocated to allow for future growth.

Example Usage

This setup is not optimal for all use cases.
Example 9.1. Example partition setup
Table 9.4. Example partition setup
Partition Size and type
/boot 500 MB ext3 partition
swap 2 GB swap
LVM physical volume Remaining space, as one LVM volume group

The physical volume is assigned to the default volume group and divided into the following logical volumes:
Table 9.5. Example partition setup: LVM physical volume
Partition Size and type
/ 13 GB ext4
/var 4 GB ext4
/home 50 GB ext4