Partitioning suggestions for a dual-boot config?
Posted: 2007-09-12 10:42pm
My original plan to RAID-1 the two 500 GB drives on my new computer for purposes of data reliability was successful, but I am beginning to wonder if it's completely necessary. While it worked fine in Windows, my interest in installing a Linux distro in a dual-boot configuration makes this a bit more difficult. My last experiences with Linux were with SuSe and Debian, back on the 2.2 and 2.4 kernels, respectively. I'm looking at trying out Ubuntu this time. Searching forums reveals that I'll probably encounter configuration issues with fakeRAID for the 680i chipset.
I am considering disbanding the array and repartitioning the second disk. Currently, the array is divided into three primary NTFS partitions mirrored across the two disks. My original planned (RAID) dual-boot arrangement was for 60 GB Windows system partition, a 340 GB logical partition with two extended NTFS partitions for data and apps, and the remaining 100 GB split up across the necessary Linux partitions in swap and ext3, using NTFS-3G to read and write any data needed off of the logical NTFS partitions (I've been told that ability to read/write NTFS has come a long way, and an additional FAT32 partition is no longer necessary to pass data).
I have a backup image of the Windows system partition, so can restore that fairly quickly, and my data is automatically backed up to an external HD twice a week, so that's safe. What are your partitioning suggestions for arranging a dual-boot configuration? My thoughts on this were to keep the arrangement on the first hard disk the same as I had originally planned, and split up the second drive three ways into one ext3 and two NTFS partitions, using them for extra storage and backup. Is this a feasible arrangement to use? Would I be better served by working with fakeRAID and retaining the RAID-1 array instead? Suggestions, especially from Linux users familiar with fakeRAID, would be much appreciated.
I am considering disbanding the array and repartitioning the second disk. Currently, the array is divided into three primary NTFS partitions mirrored across the two disks. My original planned (RAID) dual-boot arrangement was for 60 GB Windows system partition, a 340 GB logical partition with two extended NTFS partitions for data and apps, and the remaining 100 GB split up across the necessary Linux partitions in swap and ext3, using NTFS-3G to read and write any data needed off of the logical NTFS partitions (I've been told that ability to read/write NTFS has come a long way, and an additional FAT32 partition is no longer necessary to pass data).
I have a backup image of the Windows system partition, so can restore that fairly quickly, and my data is automatically backed up to an external HD twice a week, so that's safe. What are your partitioning suggestions for arranging a dual-boot configuration? My thoughts on this were to keep the arrangement on the first hard disk the same as I had originally planned, and split up the second drive three ways into one ext3 and two NTFS partitions, using them for extra storage and backup. Is this a feasible arrangement to use? Would I be better served by working with fakeRAID and retaining the RAID-1 array instead? Suggestions, especially from Linux users familiar with fakeRAID, would be much appreciated.