Multi-boot Ubuntu on separate drives

[Hedon James]

Hey folks,

 

Trying something new here, on multiple fronts, and was hoping to solicit advice/instruction from those of you who have already been there, done that. Here's the plan...I bought an SSD for my main production machine. If I'm going to upgrade to SSD, I want to take the opportunity to upgrade my distro to the latest Ubuntu LTS, bringing all my systems to a single homogeneous environment. While I'm at it, I'd like to setup a separate /home partition for data. And finally, if possible, I'd like to keep my current installation on the machine, in a multi-boot configuration, while I'm ensuring the new OS is fully functional and then keep it as a backup OS for possible emergencies.

 

Here's my current config:

 

Ubuntu 12.04.5 LTS, installed on WD Blue #1 (1TB); I regularly backup to WD Blue #2 (1TB) in an external BlacX usb caddy. The backup drive is full (I have prior machine backups on here, as well as current machine). I have replaced WD Blue #2 with a WD Green (2TB) in the BlacX caddy and copied over OLD backups from OLD machines, and have backed up current system. WD Blue #2 is now available for repurposed uses.

 

With that done, here's what I think I WANT:

Ubuntu 14.04.2 LTS to be installed on Patriot Torch (60GB), with /home partition on old WD Blue #2 (the entire disk). I will install Ubuntu 14.04.2 from a RemasterSys "remixed master of Ubuntu" with all the programs, tweaks, etc... that I prefer. In previous installations, I've ALWAYS selected the option to "install beside Windows & dual-boot" OR "wipe disk & install Ubuntu as only OS". I'm ready for the "something" else option, with separate "/", "swap" and "home" partitions.

 

First question...should I leave the old Ubuntu 12.04 OS HDD in place and dual-boot with Ubuntu 14.04 OS SSD? Can that be done? If so, how? Or should I just pull the Ubuntu 12.04 OS HDD and save it for that hypothetical emergency, as I doubt I would use the 12.04 OS anymore? I'm leaning toward pulling it, but I don't know what I don't know. What would YOU do, and WHY?

 

Assuming I pull the old HDD, install the Patriot Torch SSD for OS and the old WD Blue #2 as a /home HDD, how would you configure the partitions? I've read online that the "/" root partition and the "swap" partition should be on the same drive and if the drive is an SSD, the "swap" should be the first partition to take advantage of the SSD speed. Conflicting advice says that a "swap" partition should NOT be on an SSD, but a platter HDD, because of the read/write function of "swap". This is my desktop, so I'm not worried about suspend/hibernate issues. Also, I have 16GB of RAM. Do I really need a 16GB swap partition for a desktop machine? I have no problems allocating 16GB for "swap", but there's no way I'm allocating 2x RAM for swap. That seems silly with 16GB of RAM.

 

Here's what I THINK I'll be doing, but I'm hoping to get enough advice/feedback to get it right the first time. This is my main production machine, and I can't be experimenting with this, or down for more than the weekend, FYI...

 

Assuming the Patriot Torch 60GB SSD is dev/sda, format "/" root as a 44GB ext4 partition and format "swap" as a 16GB swap partition.

Assuming the old WD Blue #2 1TB HDD is dev/sdb, format "/home" as an ext4 partition for the entire drive.

 

Any thoughts from folks here? Is there a better way? Thanks in advance folks!

Edited May 3, 2015 by Hedon James

[securitybreach]

I would put root, swap and /home on the ssd. Then I would make symbolic links from your old /home partition to your ssd /home. For instance, I used this command for my Documents folder:

 

ln -s /old-home/Documents /home/username/

 

That way all of your files/folders show up in your /home/user directory but they are actually located on your old harddrive. As far as swap being on ssd, its BS as would take you over 10 years to even get close to the amount of writes and by that time; your install would be obsolete.

[Hedon James]

I had considered that setup too SB...a true "data drive" solution, with benefits of added speed for config files (.mozilla, .thunderbird, etc...) on the SSD, but haven't really thought my way through it. Although, conceptually, I LOVE the idea, as it seems like a more elegant solution to me, and it ticks off another selection in the criteria box.

 

After having opened my Micro ATX box to refresh my memory of how my Frankenputer was built, I have concluded that the OLD HDD with Ubuntu 12.04 cannot remain in place. If I'm installing an SSD and a separate "data drive", that is ALL that's going in there...there just isn't enough room for a third drive! So I'm pulling the old Ubuntu 12.04 HDD and setting it safely aside as a complete OS "backup drive" in the event of a catastrophe. I LOVE safety net solutions and this seems like a perfect solution to me.

 

Back to your SSD and Data Drive solution...how would you partition that? My Patriot Torch SSD is 60GB. I've already discussed my "swap" at 16GB and you have debunked the read/write myth of swap on SSDs. I figure my "/" root should be at least 25GB and "swap" should be 16GB, leaving 19GB for "/home". Am I wasting drive space for a 19GB "/home" partition that is only sym-linked to an external HDD? Perhaps I should allocate a greater portion to "/" root to allow for greater expansion of programs, themes, etc... Or is that 6 of one, half a dozen of another? Your thoughts?

 

Finally, I'm already thinking ahead to my LuckyBackup configuration for backing up my hard drive data. As someone who suffered the painful experience of a COMPLETE LOSS of data about 20 years ago (which took about 5 years to rebuild my business database, templates, and files, etc...) I am quite diligent about backing up regularly. And it has saved my bacon 2 or 3 times over the years! Seems like a simple matter to back up the "data drive", which is about 99% of what I'm concerned about, but there are some hidden files I need to backup also, such as Thunderbird e-mail profile, which are equally as important as data files (and in fact, ARE, data files!). Right now, I just backup my entire /Home directory. Can I just continue that arrangement? Will the rsync backend of LuckyBackup follow the sym-links and backup the sym-linked files, or should I break the single Backup task into 2 smaller tasks: a backup of the "data drive" to WD Green BAK, and a backup of hidden files (.folders) from the SSD to the WD Green BAK? Can you tell me what to expect from LuckyBackup/rsync, or will I have to setup my backup and see what it does, modifying as needed? Your thoughts on that issue?

 

Thanks in advance SB!

[securitybreach]

Ok first off, your /home partition can be tiny as all the files in it will be located on another drive. As far as using rsync to back them up, it will work just fine as the folders do not reside on the ssd but on your old harddrive. They are simply links to another drive. I do the same exact thing and it works flawlessly

 

See:

 

 

And my rsync crontab:

00 15 * * * rsync -ar --delete /home/comhack/Videos /home/comhack/Music /home/comhack/Documents /home/comhack/Downloads /home/comhack/Pictures /home/comhack/Shared /home/comhack/scripts/ /MEDIA &> /dev/null

 

[Hedon James]

Got it done this weekend SB! Now running Ubuntu 14.04.2 from a Patriot Torch 60GB SSD, with "/" root, swap, and separate "/home' partitions and a symlink to 2nd internal HDD for Data files. The best of all worlds...speed, reliability, upgradeability, and duplicity of data. Took me better part of Saturday to get everything installed, setup correctly, tweak settings to my liking/preferences, re-enter passwords, etc... I was actually quite anxious about the process, as this is my main production box and I can't afford any downtime on it, especially this month. But I must admit, that was one of the less painful experiences of "upgrading" a system. I'm back up and running full speed, haven't missed a beat (knock on wood!).

 

Thanks for the tip, SB! That symlink tip was the deal-clincher for me!

[securitybreach]

Awesome!!! Glad I could help man