Hard drive partition scheme

[fewjr]

Hello again folks,
I have a question that I hope I could get some suggestions on. So I've figured out quite a bit the last week or so. I ended up reinstalling Ubuntu Server. I have a 120GB ssd that the OS is installed on and four 2TB hard drives. Right now two of those are set as raid1. I'll probably add the other two later.
I have seen where some people suggest setting up a /home, /var partitions, among others separate from /. I didn't do that. So one question is does my 120 GB SSD have enough space on it if I start out with Plex media server but then start adding other functions like a file server or my own cloud, etc? If I have all that storage space in a raid configuration, is it only there to store all my media files or would the array be used for other things besides storage? I can't find any articles explaining different concepts or proper ways of having a servers drives setup. I hope I'm being clear in what I'm asking.
Also I keep reading that Ubuntu Server 18.04 doesn't require a swap partition anymore, that they went to a swap file but when I install it it had a swap partition! So if I manually setup partitions, do I have to create a swap partition or not?

Thanks,
fewjr

 

[wizardfromoz]

I am not a Server expert, @fewjr ... but how much RAM do you have?

Wiz

 

[fewjr]

I'm at work but I believe I put 8 or 16 in that box.

 

[wizardfromoz]

Ta (Aussie for thanks, pron. "tar") for that.

I run about 80 Linux, and below is a shot of most of what I have on my WD My Book external 4TB

34 partitions, including about 30 Linux.

Note the absence of Swap.

IMO, since we exceeded 4 GB RAM, or certainly 6 - 8, there is basically no need for Swap. Unless you are doing a whole lot of memory-intensive work such as video or music editing/producing, perhaps Google Earth. When I have had Swap, none was ever used.

There is a feature called Swappiness we can tweak, that will use more of your available RAM before it goes looking for Swap.

Also, we can incorporate a Swap Files as you have mentioned, or even a Swap on the Fly process, if needed.

I cannot speak for Server operations, but I would be inclined to try it without, first, and then incorporate it if you find you need it.

I have been doing this for over 3 years now, from a time with 8GB of RAM, and currently have 16 GB.

Your call, though

Cheers

Enjoy your Linux, and

Avagudweegend.

Wizard