I know Linux Does this but will this... but

[Corey0808]

I'm wondering.... Linux sets up multiple partitions for use of the pagefile and all that other stuff (I really don't know the exact science 🙂) I was wondering if it was beneficial to set up multiple partitions on a windows xp based system. If so how should I do it? Also would it have a noticable improvement in performance?

 

[Nothinman]

It's a real PITA with Windows because there's no way to setup the mount points in the installer so you have to do the partitioning then move everything around after the installer is done. Generally even with Linux I only ever setup seperate mount points for /home and any other data partitions I have, usually on seperate physical disks.

 

[warhorse]

Yeah, the partition for the page file is a requirement. Linux accesses the partition like a raw device, I think, so it doesn't use a filesystem or anything like that to store swap. As for setting up partitions, that isn't a requirement and it depends on your installer. IIRC, Red Hat would just stick everything in one partition, but Debian seperates /home. The reason for this I think is that if your OS dies, you can reinstall it and just remount your /home, leaving all of your local configurations and files intact.

I wouldn't think it improves performance or anything because it guarantees an expensive head seek to do stuff between partitions. With everything in one partition it is theoretically possible to get better response times by putting relevant data close to each other, although I don't know how well that works in practice.

 

[Nothinman]

Partitions for swap aren't a requirement, just the usual way of doing it. You can use swap files if you really want to.

 

[n0cmonkey]

Originally posted by: warhorse
Yeah, the partition for the page file is a requirement. Linux accesses the partition like a raw device, I think, so it doesn't use a filesystem or anything like that to store swap. As for setting up partitions, that isn't a requirement and it depends on your installer. IIRC, Red Hat would just stick everything in one partition, but Debian seperates /home. The reason for this I think is that if your OS dies, you can reinstall it and just remount your /home, leaving all of your local configurations and files intact.

I wouldn't think it improves performance or anything because it guarantees an expensive head seek to do stuff between partitions. With everything in one partition it is theoretically possible to get better response times by putting relevant data close to each other, although I don't know how well that works in practice.

I'm pretty sure Linux *does* newfs the swap partition. I remember slackware doing so the other day.

And there are ways to use a file instead of a partition. I just set one up for my netbooting sparcstation (under OpenBSD, but the concept is the same, although OpenBSD doesn't newfs a swap partition).

I try to setup a seperate /tmp and /var (and sometimes a /var/tmp) for security and reliability reasons. /home is less important to me.

 

[Nothinman]

I'm pretty sure Linux *does* newfs the swap partition. I remember slackware doing so the other day.

It calls mkswap on it, which basically just puts a signature at the end of the partition.

 

[Smilin]

Originally posted by: Corey0808
I'm wondering.... Linux sets up multiple partitions for use of the pagefile and all that other stuff (I really don't know the exact science 🙂) I was wondering if it was beneficial to set up multiple partitions on a windows xp based system. If so how should I do it? Also would it have a noticable improvement in performance?

It would be of no benefit whatsoever. Windows uses pagefiles not partitions. Do a search for pagefile here, there have been lots of discussions on the topic.

 

[dawks]

I do it mostly because it allows me to have a swap file on a separate physical disk from my OS and Programs drive, which should, ideally allow for a slightly faster system. I can also help in dealing with defragmentation.

If you are going to do it, I'd recommend using a large cluster size like 32kb or bigger. Im using 16, and it works nicely.

 

[groovin]

Originally posted by: n0cmonkey

Originally posted by: warhorse
Yeah, the partition for the page file is a requirement. Linux accesses the partition like a raw device, I think, so it doesn't use a filesystem or anything like that to store swap. As for setting up partitions, that isn't a requirement and it depends on your installer. IIRC, Red Hat would just stick everything in one partition, but Debian seperates /home. The reason for this I think is that if your OS dies, you can reinstall it and just remount your /home, leaving all of your local configurations and files intact.

I wouldn't think it improves performance or anything because it guarantees an expensive head seek to do stuff between partitions. With everything in one partition it is theoretically possible to get better response times by putting relevant data close to each other, although I don't know how well that works in practice.

I'm pretty sure Linux *does* newfs the swap partition. I remember slackware doing so the other day.

And there are ways to use a file instead of a partition. I just set one up for my netbooting sparcstation (under OpenBSD, but the concept is the same, although OpenBSD doesn't newfs a swap partition).

I try to setup a seperate /tmp and /var (and sometimes a /var/tmp) for security and reliability reasons. /home is less important to me.

newfs? on BSD not linux!

 

[Nothinman]

If you are going to do it, I'd recommend using a large cluster size like 32kb or bigger. Im using 16, and it works nicely.

A large cluster size won't help much, if at all. The pagefile is accessed in accessed in page-sized chunks (4K on 32-bit architectures) and IIRC the largest it will read in one swoop is 16K but I would hazard a guess that those situations are pretty infrequent since the pagefile isn't sorted in any manner so there's no guarantee that the needed pages are anywhere near each other. That is also the reason why a fragmented pagefile means almost nothing performance-wise.

 

[n0cmonkey]

Originally posted by: groovin

Originally posted by: n0cmonkey

Originally posted by: warhorse
Yeah, the partition for the page file is a requirement. Linux accesses the partition like a raw device, I think, so it doesn't use a filesystem or anything like that to store swap. As for setting up partitions, that isn't a requirement and it depends on your installer. IIRC, Red Hat would just stick everything in one partition, but Debian seperates /home. The reason for this I think is that if your OS dies, you can reinstall it and just remount your /home, leaving all of your local configurations and files intact.

I wouldn't think it improves performance or anything because it guarantees an expensive head seek to do stuff between partitions. With everything in one partition it is theoretically possible to get better response times by putting relevant data close to each other, although I don't know how well that works in practice.

I'm pretty sure Linux *does* newfs the swap partition. I remember slackware doing so the other day.

And there are ways to use a file instead of a partition. I just set one up for my netbooting sparcstation (under OpenBSD, but the concept is the same, although OpenBSD doesn't newfs a swap partition).

I try to setup a seperate /tmp and /var (and sometimes a /var/tmp) for security and reliability reasons. /home is less important to me.

newfs? on BSD not linux!

Try complete sentences next time, please.