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My laptop currently has only a 256GB SSD which has Windows 10 pre-installed on it. I don't need Ubuntu to be installed on this SSD, so I will remove this drive. I am planning to remove the Windows 10 SSD and run only Ubuntu on this laptop on 2 1TB SSDs.

I need Ubuntu to be installed on a 1TB NVMe SSD and another 1TB 2.5" internal SSD which I will put in this laptop as a replacement for the old 256GB SSD. Then I would be able to use LVM to manage these two storage devices in order to make the most efficient use of both drives. I'm going to use these two drives for some heavy machine learning and deep learning projects. I'm not planning to create any virtual machine guest OSs on this laptop, only an Ubuntu 18.04 single boot. How to partition the 2 SSDs on my laptop for an Ubuntu 18.04 single boot?

As far as I know it is required that we need root (/), swap home (/home) partitions. I need this 2TB of disk space (1 + 1) to be used efficiently for only this three partitions without mounting any one of these drives. I have did some research where with 1TB -

swap(SWAP) - 32GB

root(/) - rest of capacity after swap allocated

home(/home) - whole 1TB allocated

In my opinion does root need that much storage capacity? Is there any way to reduce this and add that storage capacity to home? Because I need home storage capacity to be more as I do heavy work?

karel
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Krishna Rohith
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    Do you really need a 32GB swap partition and a 992GB root partition? – victorrms Dec 05 '19 at 03:45
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    I have a 128GB SSD & 1TB HDD. I have several / (root) partitions on SSD and include /home inside /. But have several more installs & large ext4 data partition on HDD. Then I link folders from HDD into /home so they look like they are in /home but really on other drive. Back with XP, I also had a shared NTFS partition, but that is now long gone. https://askubuntu.com/questions/1013677/storing-data-on-second-hdd-mounting & https://askubuntu.com/questions/1058756/installing-all-applications-on-a-ssd-disk-and-putting-all-files-on-hdd-disk – oldfred Dec 05 '19 at 04:02
  • I don't understand the question. You set partitions when you run the installer. For first-time installers, you can save a lot of frustration by using the installer's defaults. You can change it later...when you have some real-usage data and you have grown the skills to adjust partitions. Your question seems to be about storage (drives), not about memory (RAM). – user535733 Dec 05 '19 at 04:27
  • @victorrms, i don't know whether root storage capacity requires that much memory. I am asking for best results for partitioning – Krishna Rohith Dec 05 '19 at 09:53
  • @user535733 - You need to understand that I will install two solid state drive of 1TB which doesn't comes with laptop pre-installed. It comes with just 256GB solid state drive. So, i am going to unmount this 256GB solid state drive and mount this two 1TB solid state drivers. See, even later I have to change so i'm asking how to make partition them with root(/), swap, home(/home) with whole 2TB solid state drive. – Krishna Rohith Dec 05 '19 at 10:01

2 Answers2

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Install Ubuntu on one / root partition. Let the Ubuntu 18.04 installer create a swap file by default instead of an unnecessary swap partition. The swap file will stay small if you have lots of RAM and don't use it for hibernation. The other SSD can be automatically mounted at startup to be used as storage space or use LVM to span Ubuntu 18.04 across both SSDs.

The advantage of the first method is that you can remove the second SSD and put it in a new computer and all the files on the SSD will still be there on the new computer. The advantage of the second method is that it makes the most efficient use of the available disk space. I currently use the first method, but if someone else gave a decent explanation of the second method I'd encourage you to try it.

karel
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  • Thank You. But i don't need virtual machine because i want only Ubuntu. And the thing bothering me is this - I have a USB with Ubuntu and a windows 10 with only 256GB. Now I will remove this windows 10 installed 256GB. Now add 1TB NVMe solid state drive and 1TB 2.5" internal solid state drive. Now while installing thorough USB. Now should I select 'Something else' and make partitions? If so how? OR Should I select 'Earse disk and install Ubuntu' and everything works with me? Could you please make me understand? – Krishna Rohith Dec 05 '19 at 10:24
  • The Ubuntu installer has an Install Ubuntu alongside Windows option. This option has a GUI partitioning screen in which you move a slider back and forth to divide the disk space on the SSD between Windows and Ubuntu. If you're like me you'll need at least one virtual machine for installing software from GitHub that I don't trust enough install on a production OS. – karel Dec 05 '19 at 10:27
  • But I need to replace or remove windows. For that Should I need to select 'Earse disk and install Ubuntu' ? – Krishna Rohith Dec 05 '19 at 10:32
  • If you want to remove Windows select the Erase disk and install Ubuntu option. This option will overwrite everything that is currently stored on the selected disk. – karel Dec 05 '19 at 10:34
  • See, you need to understand that laptop has only 256GB solid state drive, windows 10 is pre-installed in this drive. Now i don't need Ubuntu to install in this solid state drive. I will remove this drive. I need Ubuntu to install on other NVMe solid state drive of 1TB and another 1TB 2.5" internal solid state drive. This brings back to my question of partition. How? – Krishna Rohith Dec 05 '19 at 10:41
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Why 2x1T and not 1x2T SSD? that would simplify greatly your condition and would avoid any issue on partitioning: one single partition for data and swapfile... or, if I were you, 1 small NVMe SSD for the root fs and swap (file or partition - 64/128G would be sufficient) and one big 2T sata SSD for the /home dir...

ciampix
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  • Did you tried the "real world" NVMe vs SATA SSD performance differences? IMHO negligible...PS: yes I have a NVMe & SATA SSD (SAMSUNG both) to compare on the same hardware ... really no real difference at all... – ciampix Dec 05 '19 at 12:36
  • I cannot say anything except it's a coincidence. I thought of same. I meant to say, I didn't find a solution to my question instead, I made my question simpler. Besides, I may be satisfy by using 1x2TB solid state drive. But somebody may be in dilemma of getting the answer. So, doing some research. Hope you understand. Your suggestion also worth it. Thank You – Krishna Rohith Dec 05 '19 at 12:55
  • You're welcome KR! You know the adage: "Great minds think alike"? ;-) – ciampix Dec 10 '19 at 11:28