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I have an Ubuntu Studio installation currently on one spinning disk, and I've just bought an SSD which I've installed into the computer. I'm planning to do a fresh install over both disks... but I'm not sure what to put on which disk.

Obviously root goes on the SSD; that's the whole point of it. I think I'll have to put a small /boot partition on the spinning disk, because the BIOS isn't recognising the SSD as a boot device (my guess is that only the first two SATA devices are bootable, and I can't be bothered to re-arrange the cables).

But then... what else?

Should I just put /home on the spinning disk and be done with it, or should I put it on the SSD so that it can have fast access to my dotfiles and then symlink Documents, Music, etc onto the spinning disk?

What about swap? Presumably that'll kill the SSD pretty quickly, so put it on the spinning disk? I've got plenty of RAM in the machine and a low swappiness, so it doesn't get used that much anyway.

Last time I used SSDs it was recommended not to put logs on them to avoid wearing it out too quickly. Does that still hold true, and if so do I want a separate partition for /var on the spinning disk?

Thanks!

Thomas Preece
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  • It may just not be showing SSD as bootable as you do not have any boot files on it? UEFI or BIOS based system? How much RAM? I do reduce writes and leave some space unused. But newer SSD have lives comparible to HDD, but not forever. http://techreport.com/review/27909/the-ssd-endurance-experiment-theyre-all-dead IF UEFI or no Windows use gpt: http://askubuntu.com/questions/743095/how-to-prepare-a-disk-on-an-efi-based-pc-for-ubuntu – oldfred Aug 11 '16 at 17:13

2 Answers2

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Should I just put /home on the spinning disk and be done with it, or should I put it on the SSD so that it can have fast access to my dotfiles and then symlink Documents, Music, etc onto the spinning disk?

  • ssd
  • don't use symlinks. There is an easier method: see ~/.config/user-dirs.dirs on how to do that. Keep a copy of that file on the HDD so when you re-install you can copy it over the one that is used.

What about swap? Presumably that'll kill the SSD pretty quickly, so put it on the spinning disk? I've got plenty of RAM in the machine and a low swappiness, so it doesn't get used that much anyway.

  • Don't make a swap. I doubt you will use suspend or hibernate. I don't since my system boots under 10 seconds. So swap you can do without too if you want.

Last time I used SSDs it was recommended not to put logs on them to avoid wearing it out too quickly. Does that still hold true, and if so do I want a separate partition for /var on the spinning disk?

  • keep the system files on the ssd and the hdd for personal files. I have a spare ssd in the cupboard in case my ssd ever dies.
Rinzwind
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My suggestion is that:

Do the entire installation on SSD

Create data partitions on HDD

Symbolically link them to the /home folder in SSD

This way your system will be fastest

If you ever need swap file it's better to do it in HDD

rancho
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