SSD for Linux - can it be partitioned

[Chris]

The OCZ 50G which is on sale now in NCIX says it works for Linux. Can it be partitioned into 3, one for /boot, one for /root and one for /home?

[Borg]

Originally Posted by Chris

The OCZ 50G which is on sale now in NCIX says it works for Linux. Can it be partitioned into 3, one for /boot, one for /root and one for /home?

Why not?

It depends if Linux has dealt with the partitioning of SSD drives but apparently, there's been a lot of updates with the partitioning software that Linux uses. GParted and the associated software packages should be able to deal with it. I would google Linux and SSD and then choose the most up to date links to just check. Or ask in Linux-based forums. You might want to try the Phoronix website and Ubuntu forums (search) but I recommend Phoronix since they are pretty well informed there and the web admin often does reviews and tests of hardware using Ubuntu.

[Chris]

Thanks. Read the Phoronix read of the 60GB OCZ SSD Vertex2 and they rated it 9/10. I'll go and get one to play with.
edit: also read HWC's own review. Very good indeed.

[frontier204]

New versions of parted (e.g. the one with the latest released OpenSUSE) handle SSD alignment properly using either 4k or 1 MB blocks. That said, I have my SSD (Kingston SSDNow V Series 128GB) partitioned into { Windows Reserved, Windows C:, OpenSUSE /boot, OpenSUSE LVM }.
I've also used Fedora 12 or 13 on the same SSD with no problems.
One thing though, I don't know if Linux supports TRIM yet (which wasn't a problem for my SSD because it has good garbage collection).

[Borg]

Phoronix might have some info on that.

If the info is insufficient or not confirming, you could ask someone there or alternatively, read over these links and see if it helps:

ssd - How do I verify that TRIM is activated? (linux) - Super User

https://sites.google.com/site/lightr...orssdsonubuntu

[enaberif]

Why do you want to do that for?

Constant read/writes to a SSD will deteriorate the drive faster. And since /root and /home will always have files being read, wrote and deleted this is a bad idea.

If you want a SSD for linux then just use it like Windows as a boot drive.

[Chris]

Since I have bought a OCZ Vertex2 50GB, and it is small enough that I finally decided to use it as one partition for the whole Debian-squeeze install. I'll be able to back it up simply using clonezilla. Most of my data is in a WD Caviar Black 640 GB. With 3 yrs of warranty, I am not going to worry about it being worn out.

BTW, I bought it just for play. Don't really need the speed increase. But it is fast to boot (12 seconds from the point I choose an os from the grub screen to the point of user log on screen, and another 1 or 2 seconds after I type in my name and password).

[botat29]

Originally Posted by Chris

.....Most of my data is in a WD Caviar Black 640 GB. With 3 yrs of warranty, I am not going to worry about it being worn out. ...

do you means your 640 black have 3 years left on the waranty ? cause it's 5 years on a black.

[Chris]

Sorry I was not clear. The OCZ Vertex2 comes with 3 yrs warranty. My WD black 640 has just about 3 yrs left as well, but I expect it to last a lot longer than that.