[SSD] + [HDD] Configuration

[norcal618]

I just finished doing a clean install of Mint 17.3 on my desktop PC. I have a Samsung 850 Evo that I purchased for the sole purpose of installing Linux on. I have another M.2 SSD that I have Windows installed on, on the same machine. I also have a 2TB HDD which I have partitioned. Half of it is being used for my Documents, Pictures, Downloads, and other mass storage locations for my Windows installation. When I installed Mint I had the /root partition put onto the Evo SSD, and the /home partition put onto the vacant partition on the 2TB HHD. Both formatted ext 4.

I was under the impression that the /home partition contains the mass storage folders, and that the /root partition contains all of the OS stuff, and is where any data from installed applications would reside. I am beginning to get the feeling that this assumption was wrong. Whenever navigating through the OS, for example the settings, and even Firefox, I can hear the HDD working. I thought the HDD would only be working if I were accessing the documents, or pictures, or other folders like that. I am relatively new to Linux, and my question is, how should I have this configured. Conventional wisdom tells me that the /home folder is where the mass storage things would be, and the /root is where the OS, and program data would be. Am I wrong, and if so, why.

I searched around the forum a bit, and I found a couple posts saying that the /home partition should be on the SSD, but I can't find any explanation as to why... Any clarification would be much appreciated... thank you.

[xenopeek]

I think you meant / and not /root. /root would be the home directory of the root user specifically; / is the root of the file system.

To check what was installed where you can install GParted and look at each disk what partitions are mounted on it. Share screenshots here if you want our thoughts. Or get the information from the terminal application with this command lsblk -o NAME,SIZE,FSTYPE,MOUNTPOINT,MODEL and just select all the output text and copy it here.

[Derek_S]

Hello norcal618 - There are more folders and files in /home besides the personal folders for Documents, Music, Pictures, Videos, etc. Open the Home folder, then go up and click "View", then select "Show Hidden Files" to display everything that's included in Home. You'll find that there are other folders such as .adobe, .cinnamon, .java, .linuxmint, .mozilla, .thunderbird and more. Most of these folders contain files related to your user profile.

[norcal618]

I think you meant / and not /root. /root would be the home directory of the root user specifically; / is the root of the file system.

To check what was installed where you can install GParted and look at each disk what partitions are mounted on it. Share screenshots here if you want our thoughts. Or get the information from the terminal application with this command lsblk -o NAME,SIZE,FSTYPE,MOUNTPOINT,MODEL and just select all the output text and copy it here.

Thank you guys for the responses! Yes, you are right. It is / that I have installed on the SSD, and /home that I have installed on the HDD. I have included a screen shot of the print out from the command that you suggested I run. So what is the optimal set up for me here? I am pretty sure I am going to have to reinstall, because it is obvious that at this point my HDD is doing allot of the OS work. I can hear it clunking around in there when I move throughout the operating system. Reminds me of the old days, before SSD. Something I don't miss.

Drive Locals.png

[xenopeek]

Well, it is installed as you say. /home houses all user files. That includes your own files like documents, pictures, music, and videos; but it also includes cache and configuration files. Like thumbnails that your file manager creates for file previews as you browse new directories are stored in the cache. So even just browsing your file system it would be used. Similarly the average Firefox profile can be quite large (depending also on your cache setting) and your browser would frequently write things back to disk from that.

I don't know what the best approach for you would be. I saved up and changed all disks to SSDs but then I don't need TBs of storage. I'd use a HDD for backup perhaps.