[WYLUG-help] "lost" hdd

[John Hodrien]

On Sun, 29 Jan 2006, Dave Fisher wrote:

> That is exactly the kind of urge to action ('something must be done')
> that I was encouraging you to avoid.

I agree Dave, and should almost always be avoided.  Never change distro until
you've got control of the one you're using ;)

> If you haven't grasped the basics of mounting drives and partitions, I'd
> be surprised if you were able to manage an LVM setup sensibly.

I agree.  LVM is interesting enough[1], but to be honest seeing as you're trying
to learn about linux, understanding the normal partitioning/mounting system is
more important.  Using LVM doesn't mean you can throw the rule book out.

> On the other hand, it can only do this, if the person who configured it
> originally fully understands what they are doing.

Nah, there will be a point-n-click interface (better than system-config-lvm
under FC4) that will mean even people who don't know what they're doing will
be able to use it...

>  1. The primary functions/purposes of the machine
>
>     Presumably, to act as a (headless?) web/file/print server?

When you're not so experienced with linux, I'd always setup a server with all
the graphical tools, and X (and solitaire ;).

>       Having all your data (including things like web sites, databases,
>       user home directories and logs) all on one branch of the unified
>       filesystem can make back ups and adding extra storage space a bit
>       easier, i.e.  separating out the bits of the filesystem that can
>       grow rapidly in size from the basic system.

For a home machine, I always put anything that 'persists' on separate
partitions.  If you wipe the machine, what would you want to keep?  For me,
this means /home and /usr/local will always be separate, but people differ.

> a) Stick to using as few _conventional_ partitions as possible,
>
>   i.e. I don't think that _you_ (Mike Goodman) should use LVM,
>   even though I (Dave Fisher) do use LVM for a similar system.

I agree entirely.  Things like LVM are something to grow into.

> There's no point in doing anything clever to optimise your use of hard
> disk space or performance until you actually need to, and until you
> really know (from experience) how your needs are changing over time.

My normal rule is, if ever I think I'm being clever, be suspicious...

> If/when you do find /dev/hda1 running out of data storage space for
> applications like Apache and MySQL/Postgres, you can reconfigure those
> applications to store their data and logs in the /home branch of the
> filesystem (i.e. on /dev/hda2), e.g.
>
>  /home/mysql/data
>  /home/mysql/logs
>  /home/www/site1/docs
>  /home/www/site1/logs
>  /home/www/site2/docs
>  /home/www/site2/logs
>
> N.B. To make this work you'll need to:
>
>  i)  Create those directories using mkdir
>
>  ii) Stop the applications concerned
>
>  iii) Move the existing data and log files to the correct place under
>      /home
>
>  iv) restart the applications concerned
>
>  v) Ensure that the new mount point is listed in /etc/fstab so that it
>     is used if/when the system is rebooted

Depending on when this occurs within your learning curve, this could be the
time you move to LVM.

> Please suggest better ways of acheiving these ends if you can.

Do the least you possibly can to get to a stage where you understand what
you've done.  The bolder (read more foolhardy) you are and the more you can
cope with mistakes, the faster you play with things.  That doesn't necessarily
equate with learning faster though...

jh

1.  I'm even more of a fan now that there are tools for reading LVM ext3
     partitions under windows, so even dual booters can be kept happy.

-- 
"Diplomacy is the art of saying "nice doggy" until you can find a rock."
                                                      -- Anon.