[mythtv-users] Need advice on FC12 HD partitioning

Jarod Wilson jarod at wilsonet.com
Sat Jan 2 15:56:49 UTC 2010


On Jan 2, 2010, at 3:28 AM, Another Sillyname wrote:

> 2010/1/2 Jarod Wilson <jarod at wilsonet.com>:
>> On Jan 1, 2010, at 12:50 PM, steve wrote:
>> 
>>> I am setting up a new MythTV system to replace my old one (intended for HD).  The OS is Fedora Core 12.
>>> 
>>> I’m using the wiki how to, http://www.mythtv.org/wiki/Installing_MythTV_on_Fedora  but it gives advice on partitioning that no longer seems valid for FC12.  For example it says I should use ext3 for the format of /boot and /  but jfs for /video.  However, the format options given by the installer are
>>> 
>>> ext2
>>> ext3
>>> ext4
>>> physical volume (LVM)
>>> software RAID
>>> swap
>>> vfat
>>> xfs
>>> 
>>> So should I use ext4 for /boot & / and xfs for /video?  The howto says XFS is better “at least, when it’s stable…” which is kind of scary.
>>> 
>>> Also I was advised to put /video on a separate drive, so I have a 160 gb drive and a 1 tb drive.  Does this affect the recommended sizes in the howto?  Also the default partition combined both drives into one logical volume, which I don’t think I want if the point is to keep the video on a separate drive.
>>> 
>>> If someone could help me out with a recommended partitioning scheme I’d appreciate it because I know it’s important for good MythTV performance.
>> 
>> ext4 /boot and / here, with xfs video storage partition. Been that way for quite some time now, no problems to speak of. Most of xfs's issues are on 32-bit kernels, exacerbated by use of software raid and/or lvm (I don't use either, and I run as 64-bit kernel).
...
> Few Suggestions...
> 
> Use ext4 for all you drive file formats, these days it's fine.

Yes, ext4 has ben pretty much fine for most people of late. Except for those where it hasn't. xfs is still more mature, and geared for large partitions and large files, which is exactly what you need for a mythtv storage partition. ext4 is still undergoing a fair amount of active upstream developement. Plus, one of my co-workers, who actually works on both the ext4 and xfs code, explicitly still recommends xfs over ext4 for mythtv storage. :)

> As regards the file structure I would suggest for your drives......
> 
> 160 TB - Setup as you boot and 'working' drive

Wow, you have a 160 TB drive? ;)

> say 8gb swap (although it's suggested to use the amount of RAM I
> always use RAM x 2 to allow for future memory upgrades, and let's face
> it the difference between 4gb and 8gb on a 160gb disk is
> insignificant).

Swap is mostly worthless if you have enough memory. I don't bother with more than 2G on any system, and that's only for a safety net in the case of a run-away memory-sucking process or something. If you need more swap than that, I'm sorry, but you're Doing It Wrong. RAM x 2 for swap is a horrible guideline these days, when many systems ship with 4GB of RAM. A quick glance at the systems in my house, NONE of them are using ANY swap (all my in-use boxes have at least 4GB of RAM these days though, including both my laptops and my ion frontend).

-- 
Jarod Wilson
jarod at wilsonet.com





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