Restating the case for keeping "User Data" on a physically separate drive or drives

[Jack]

Certainly, I highly recommend keeping user data files separated from the "OS" files. However, it is not always reasonably possible to have the data on a separate drive. Such as laptops which have one internal drive. I always have a partition just for data. However separate drives, are better.

Brian J

--- On Sat, 1/31/09, Oren Beck <orenbeck at gmail.com> wrote:

> From: Oren Beck <orenbeck at gmail.com>
> Subject: Restating the case for keeping "User Data" on a physically separate  drive or drives
> To: "KCLUG" <kclug at kclug.org>
> Date: Saturday, January 31, 2009, 11:45 AM
> I have been gently suggesting a new practice.  Making it
> routine to keep the
> Non-OS data on a separate drive from the OS. Bluntly
> stating the two bedrock
> facts seems belaboring the obvious. But the percent of such
> default installs
> is trivial at best. So? I invite constructive comment on
> why or why NOT
> using a separate device for OS and user data makes any
> sense.
> 
> The two bedrock facts being? 1: that any disaster befalling
> the OS device's
> file system has "less chance" of damaging user
> data. 2: Establishing that
> user data as detached from the OS assists many things. The
> list of those
> "many things" is non-trivial and more. Let me
> give the short closers
> 
> *IF* we establish it as default practice that future Linux
> installs use a
> two device minimal mode we banish whole categories of data
> disasters. That
> alone is good enough for me. The icing on that being
> swapping an OS becomes
> closer to a trivial "no user data risked"
> operation.
> 
> Addendum forced by premeditated desire to stifle the YahBut
> gallery is the
> cherry on top.
> 
> In a long past time a "drive" was a truly major
> expense. Even removable
> media such as floppy etc were cost issues. Today ? I humbly
> offer the KCLUG
> thread on Craig's issues RE: Rolling back updates. as
> "Exhibit A"
> 
> -- 
> Oren Beck
> 
> 816.729.3645
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