Lesson 7

This module dealt with planning filesystems, designing partition layouts and sizes, planning swap space, and adding new hard drives.
You learned that all systems must have at a minimum root and swap partitions. Additionally, including a /tmp partition is sensible so that the root partition does not fill up with temporary files. It's also a good idea to include a /boot partition as security in case a problem develops with the root partition, below which all other directories reside.
You also learned that the partitions you choose to install and their sizes depend on the function of the machine. For example, Web servers will need a /httpd partition to store the Web files and applications. A news server will need to include a large /var partition to store the incoming data to be shared.
Finally, you learned the steps involved in installing a new hard drive.

Having completed this module, you should be able to:

1. List the steps required to plan a filesystem
2. Plan partition layout
3. Plan partition size
4. Enable swap space
5. Add a new hard drive

This module introduced you to the following terms:

1. Boot loader: The boot loader is program that is responsible for loading the rest of the operating system into the computer's memory at boot time.
2. Partition: A partition is a section of the hard drive reserved for specific directories, applications, or operating systems.
3. Swap space: Swap space is the space on a hard disk that computer uses as an extension of its RAM.
4. Swapping: Swapping uses space on a hard disk as an extension a computer's RAM. By utilizing swap, the operating system pretends that more RAM is available than the machine actually contains. The oldest files in RAM are "swapped out" to the swap partition until they are needed so that other data can be "swapped in" to RAM.

The next module further examines administering local filesystems.

Before moving on to the next module, click the Quiz link below to check your understanding of common tasks associated with administering local filesystems.
Administering Local Filesystems - Quiz