Installation guide

This is entirely different from how Linux deals with partitions and, for that matter, with disk storage in
general. The main difference is that each partition is used to form part of the storage necessary to
support a single set of files and directories. This is done by associating a partition with a directory
through a process known as mounting. Mounting a partition makes its storage available starting at
the specified directory (known as a mount point).
For example, if partition /dev/hda5 is mounted on /usr/, that would mean that all files and
directories under /usr/ physically reside on /dev/hda5. So the file
/usr/share/doc/FAQ/txt/Linux-FAQ would be stored on /dev/hda5, while the file
/etc/gdm/custom.conf would not.
Continuing our example, it is also possible that one or more directories below /usr/ would be mount
points for other partitions. For instance, a partition (say, /dev/hda7) could be mounted on
/usr/local/, meaning that /usr/local/man/whatis would then reside on /dev/hda7 rather
than /dev/hda5.
26.1.8. How Many Part it ions?
At this point in the process of preparing to install Red Hat Enterprise Linux, you must give some
consideration to the number and size of the partitions to be used by your new operating system. The
question of "how many partitions" continues to spark debate within the Linux community and,
without any end to the debate in sight, it is safe to say that there are probably as many partition
layouts as there are people debating the issue.
Keeping this in mind, we recommend that, unless you have a reason for doing otherwise, you should
at least create the following partitions: swap, /boot/ (or a /boot/efi/ partition for Itanium
systems), a /var/ partition for Itanium systems, and / (root).
For more information, refer to Section 4.19.4, “ Recommended Partitioning Scheme” .
[11] Blo c ks really are c o nsis tently sized , unlike o ur illus tratio ns. Keep in mind , als o , that an averag e d isk
d rive co ntains tho usand s o f b lo cks. But fo r the p urp o ses o f this d is cuss io n, p lease ig no re thes e mino r
d is crep ancies .
Red Hat Ent erprise Linux 5 Inst allat ion G uide
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