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48.

<filename>/var</filename>: variable data like news articles, e-mails, web sites, databases, the packaging system cache, etc. will be placed under this directory. The size of this directory depends greatly on the usage of your system, but for most people will be dictated by the package management tool's overhead. If you are going to do a full installation of just about everything Debian has to offer, all in one session, setting aside 2 or 3 GB of space for <filename>/var</filename> should be sufficient. If you are going to install in pieces (that is to say, install services and utilities, followed by text stuff, then X, ...), you can get away with 300&ndash;500 MB. If hard drive space is at a premium and you don't plan on doing major system updates, you can get by with as little as 30 or 40 MB.

49.

<filename>/tmp</filename>: temporary data created by programs will most likely go in this directory. 40&ndash;100MB should usually be enough. Some applications &mdash; including archive manipulators, CD/DVD authoring tools, and multimedia software &mdash; may use <filename>/tmp</filename> to temporarily store image files. If you plan to use such applications, you should adjust the space available in <filename>/tmp</filename> accordingly.

50.

<filename>/home</filename>: every user will put his personal data into a subdirectory of this directory. Its size depends on how many users will be using the system and what files are to be stored in their directories. Depending on your planned usage you should reserve about 100MB for each user, but adapt this value to your needs. Reserve a lot more space if you plan to save a lot of multimedia files (pictures, MP3, movies) in your home directory.

51.

Recommended Partitioning Scheme

52.

For new users, personal Debian boxes, home systems, and other single-user setups, a single <filename>/</filename> partition (plus swap) is probably the easiest, simplest way to go. However, if your partition is larger than around 6GB, choose ext3 as your partition type. Ext2 partitions need periodic file system integrity checking, and this can cause delays during booting when the partition is large.

53.

For multi-user systems or systems with lots of disk space, it's best to put <filename>/usr</filename>, <filename>/var</filename>, <filename>/tmp</filename>, and <filename>/home</filename> each on their own partitions separate from the <filename>/</filename> partition.

54.

You might need a separate <filename>/usr/local</filename> partition if you plan to install many programs that are not part of the Debian distribution. If your machine will be a mail server, you might need to make <filename>/var/mail</filename> a separate partition. Often, putting <filename>/tmp</filename> on its own partition, for instance 20&ndash;50MB, is a good idea. If you are setting up a server with lots of user accounts, it's generally good to have a separate, large <filename>/home</filename> partition. In general, the partitioning situation varies from computer to computer depending on its uses.

55.

For very complex systems, you should see the <ulink url="&url-multidisk-howto;"> Multi Disk HOWTO</ulink>. This contains in-depth information, mostly of interest to ISPs and people setting up servers.

56.

With respect to the issue of swap partition size, there are many views. One rule of thumb which works well is to use as much swap as you have system memory. It also shouldn't be smaller than 16MB, in most cases. Of course, there are exceptions to these rules. If you are trying to solve 10000 simultaneous equations on a machine with 256MB of memory, you may need a gigabyte (or more) of swap.

57.

On the other hand, Atari Falcons and Macs feel pain when swapping, so instead of making a large swap partition, get as much RAM as possible.