[Bio-Linux] How to add more disk space to my Biolinux

[Ostrowski, Martin]

Hi Tim and Ashley,

I was thinking along the lines of beefing up the double drive system of the standard Biolinux in one of two ways:

1. installing another internal HD on a fast BUS and moving portions of /var/db to the new drive. We have a lot of disk space used for public and private sequence databases, some of which are accessed for BLAST. Since these databases are also held elsewhere they do not need to be backed up so this could free up a lot of space for users files and reduce the amount of regular work for the machine.

2. replacing the 2 x 80 GB HDs with 2 x 160, or 320 GB.

I think that the first option would be the best because it is the cheapest and sounds simple. I was hoping for a good guide or some tips for formating disks for linux and transferring the partitions to reduce the risk of deleting everything.

Cheers,
Martin



-----Original Message-----
From: bio-linux-bounces at envgen.nerc-oxford.ac.uk on behalf of Tim Booth
Sent: Fri 12/01/2007 10:31
To: Bio-Linux help and discussion
Subject: Re: [Bio-Linux] How to add more disk space to my Biolinux
 
Hi Martin,

As I recently bought an external USB2+FireWire drive for use with Linux,
I'll add a quick reply.  If you want to go for an external drive then
all the ones you can get from Dabs/Amazon/PC World etc. etc. will work
on Linux after being reformatted.  All external drives are slow compared
to internal SATA ones but FireWire is faster than USB2.  As I only use
my drive for large, rarely accessed files and backups I have no problem
with the speed and am very happy with it.

A couple of people have now asked about this, so it may well be time to
add some info to the website.  There is no one-size-fits-all answer but
I'd say that in general you want to start by asking these questions:

      * How much extra space do you want?
      * How much money do you have?
      * Is this space for a particular project/person or do you just
        want to beef up the machine in general?
      * Does the storage need to be fast?
      * How are you going to manage backups?  (Network backup?
        Removable media? Extend the Bio-Linux double-drive system?)
      * If thinking about an external drive, do you want to move this
        between machines?  Do you want to share data with Mac/Windows?

Cheers,

TIM

On Fri, 2007-01-12 at 09:55 +0000, Ashley Morley wrote:
> Hi Martin,
> 
> Your Dell Precision 670 machine supports up to 4 internal hardrives,
> and you are currently using two 80GB (7200rpm) SATA drives installed. 
> 
> If you want to increase capacity, then you can order up to two more
> internal hard drives from Dell (your current spec below) and install
> them (or maybe order larger drives if required). The Dell website for
> ordering these items is 
> 
> http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/productlisting.aspx?c=uk&category_id=6210&cs=ukdhs1&l=en&~ck=anav 
> 	
> DELL
> 80 GB (7200 RPM) SATA2 Hard Drive for Dell Precision /670 Minitower Systems
> Usually Ships: 5-7 Days
> Manufacturer Part: 400-11744
> Dell Part: 400-11744
> Price £39.00
> 
> I would suggest you use Dell components so that Dell remains your one contact for warranty issues. Instructions for installing the drives should come with the item, but I am sure your IT department would be able to advise on that.
> 
> You could also use an external hard drive. Perhaps another user has experience of using one?
> 
> Hope this helps
> Ashley
> 
> 
> 
> >>> m.l.ostrowski at warwick.ac.uk 16:05 11 January 2007January 2007 >>>
> Hello,
> 
> By any chance is there a guide to adding more disk space to my Biolinux box?
> 
> Thanks for any advice,
> 
> Martin
> 
> 
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> 
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-- 
Tim Booth <tbooth at ceh.ac.uk>
NEBC at CEH Oxford

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