5.3 Hard disk initialization

The installer asks you to initialize the hard disk(s). This consists of several steps.

Debian only requires one partition to put everything. This simple method leads to poor performance, however. As a result, it is more common to set up different partitions for different logical components. The following is a list of components that are suggested by the installer.

• /boot: this directory contains everything that is needed to boot the installed Linux system. 20MB to 40MB is plenty. Be careful that some older BIOSes require that the partition corresponding to this directory be within the first part of a hard disk. Create and mount this partition first!
• /: this is also called the root. This is where everything goes, unless a directory has its own ``mount point''.
• /var: this directory contains various kinds of files. Such files are typically generated by installed programs and the operating system itself. Be warned, though, that MySQL also puts its tables here.
• /home: this directory contains all the user oriented file. If you are configuring a server with many users, or if you expect a lot of useage, it is best to use a dedicated hard disk for this directory.
• Swap: this partition (no directory mapped to it) is for ``overflowing'' memory content when all RAM is used. It should be about the same size as physical RAM.

For each directory/partition, the installer lets you ``carve'' it out from the hard disk, format it, and then ``mount'' it, with the exception of the swap partition.

For advanced users, the installer also permits you to reuse existing partitions for a new Linux distribution.