Datasheet

11
Chapter 1: Getting Started with Ubuntu
6
8
7
9
Control Panel
Partitioning schemes on Linux have a long tradition. The original UNIX operating systems ran on large multiuser
machines. When upgrades were performed on the operating system of these large machines, it was paramount to
not adversely affect the users. Consequently, rather than have all the users’ files on the same set of disks as the
operating system files, they were kept on separate disks. This allowed system administrators to completely rewrite
programs or the principle system if needed. The segregation of the user files meant that when the system came back
up, all the user files would be left untouched.
Partitions were also important for the operating system itself, as the swap file for the operating system was also
maintained on a separate disk. This allowed a performance boost by having a dedicated set of disks for pushing
memory pages into and out of magnetic storage.
Aside from swap, the /tmp folder was often kept on separate disk volumes. This usually had more to do with access
speed, as UNIX and all UNIX-like operating systems create tremendous traffic in the form of temporary files.
The Prepare Disk Space page
appears.
8 Verify that you want to use the
recommended partitioning for
the drive.
Note: Double-check that you have
any important data from the
drive backed up.
9 Click Forward.
The Keyboard Layout page
appears.
6 Click your keyboard layout.
7 Click Forward.
continued
➔
04_345207-ch01.indd 1104_345207-ch01.indd 11 2/19/09 11:38:26 PM2/19/09 11:38:26 PM