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I have Dell i7559 gaming laptop containing 1 TB HDD and 8 GB SSD (Hybrid hard disk). I have originally installed ubuntu 16.04 on HDD and SSD acts as a cache. I am not able to hibernate my laptop as the minimum cache requirement is 16 GB (Ubuntu hibernation needs the size of cache greater than the size of RAM). I was thinking of moving my Ubuntu to 8 GB SSD and creating a cache of size 16 GB using space on HDD. I have tried different forums, but I have not been able to find the answer of how to migrate Ubuntu to 8 GB SSD and also what should I migrate. Also, I don't to reinstall Ubuntu. I recently switched from Windows to Ubuntu, and I don't have Windows on my laptop.

newbie
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    It is best to back up your data (in two places outside the laptop) and reinstall Ubuntu and format the 1TB HDD. See this question for more details: https://askubuntu.com/questions/282831/do-i-need-intel-smart-response-when-installing-ubuntu – user68186 Aug 04 '17 at 13:43
  • If this drive is a hybrid HDD, you probably won't be able to access the SSD seperately. To answer your question thoutgh, everything important should be inside your /home folder (All your files) and your /etc folder (All configurations). It would be best to install Ubuntu fresh on the SSD (If you even can) and only copy back the files as needed – Tim Schumacher Aug 04 '17 at 19:49

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You should use the SSD as boot disk and the HDD as your personal storage. Booting from a SSD is quick, software in the SSD starts quick too. And personal files do not need an SSD.

I have tried different forums, but I have not been able to find the answer of how to migrate Ubuntu to 8 GB SSD and also what should I migrate.

I would do the following:

  • Install Ubuntu on the SSD.
  • Do not touch the HDD (don't even mount it).

After the installation:

  • When the installer is done mount the HDD in /media/, create a directory in the root of the disk (./data/ or something your like more) and then move your personal files to this directory, and then delete anything system related.
  • Edit /etc/fstab to include this partition.
  • Edit ~/.config/users-dirs.dirs and change the directories to /data/ and then move the directories in your /home/$USER/ to /data/. (put a copy of the file on /data/).

Reboot for changes to take effect and all your personal data is now on the HDD and all your system related files and the configuration files are on your SSD (in / and /home/).

That way if the SSD ever breaks all you need is to install a new SSD and install Ubuntu, mount the HDD and copy the users-dirs.dirs file. Backup up is a backup of /data/. And you benefit most from the speed of the SSD but have not used the SSD for things that get written most to disk, your personal files. And after that I would put the swapfile on the HDD since that too became rather easy to do: Default 17.04 swap file location

Rinzwind
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  • Thanks for your answer. I was thinking of not reinstalling it, there is too much information on my current hard disk to erase and reinstall Ubuntu. – newbie Aug 04 '17 at 14:32
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    I would advice to still do that. This one time. And also to prepare for a next re-install: if you use mysql put the database and a copy of config on the hdd. Same for apache: put the website on the hdd and put a copy of the config there. Make a script to restore these configs. Automate your changes and life becomes easier. – Rinzwind Aug 04 '17 at 14:53
  • @DushyantSahoo If you have too much information on your hard disk and don't have it backed up in two different places, then you are in trouble. Just like the Sun rises in the east, hard disks fail sooner or later. – user68186 Aug 04 '17 at 14:55
  • Thanks for the information, I will surely backup everything now – newbie Aug 04 '17 at 15:03