System information

116 System Analysis and Tuning Guide
• using separate disks for the operating system, the data, and the log files
• placing a mail server's spool directory on a separate disk
• distributing the user directories of a home server between different disks
9.1.2 Installation Scope
Actually, the installation scope has no direct influence on the machine's performance,
but a carefully chosen scope of packages nevertheless has got advantages. It is recom-
mended to install the minimum of packages needed to run the server. A system with
a minimum set of packages is easier to maintain and has got less potential security is-
sues. Furthermore, a tailor made installation scope also ensures no unnecessary ser-
vices are started by default.
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server lets you customize the installation scope on the In-
stallation Summary screen. By default, you can select or remove pre-configured pat-
terns for specific tasks, but it is also possible to start the YaST Software Manager for
a fine-grained package based selection.
One or more of the following default patterns may not be needed in all cases:
GNOME Desktop Environment
A server seldomly needs a full-blown desktop environment. In case a graphical
environment is needed, a more economical solution such as as icewm or fvwm
may also be sufficient.
X Window System
When solely administrating the server and its applications via command line, con-
sider to not install this pattern. However, keep in mind that it is needed to run
GUI applications from a remote machine. If your application is managed by a
GUI or if you prefer the GUI version of YaST, keep this pattern.
Print Server
This pattern is only needed when you want to print from the machine.
9.1.3 Default Runlevel
A running X Window system eats up many resources and is seldomly needed on a
server. It is strongly recommended to start the system in runlevel 3 (Full multiuser