17.11. Disk Partitioning Setup
Partitioning allows you to divide your storage drive(s) into isolated sections, where each section behaves as its own drive. Partitioning is particularly useful if you run multiple operating systems, or wish to enforce a logical or functional distinction between your storage partitions (such as a /home partition that persistently contains user information).
On this screen you can choose to create the default layout or choose to manual partition using the 'Create custom layout' option of
Disk Druid
.
The first three options allow you to perform an automated installation without having to partition your drive(s) yourself. If you do not feel comfortable with partitioning your system, it is recommended that you
do not
choose to create a custom layout and instead let the installation program partition for you.
Warning
The
Update Agent
downloads updated packages to /var/cache/yum/ by default. If you partition the system manually, and create a separate /var/ partition, be sure to create the partition large enough (3.0 GB or more) to download package updates.
Warning
If you receive an error after the
Disk Partitioning Setup
phase of the installation saying something similar to:
"The partition table on device dasda was unreadable. To create new partitions it must be initialized, causing the loss of ALL DATA on this drive."
you may not have a partition table on that drive or the partition table on the drive may not be recognizable by the partitioning software used in the installation program.
No matter what type of installation you are performing, backups of the existing data on your systems should always be made.
