"Best" partitioning strategy
What's the best partitioning strategy?
I've never used linux, but I plan to use an Ubuntu destro (Mythbuntu) on a new computer. The computer has a single 232G partition with WinXP pre-installed. I'm going to reinstall WinXP but don't plan on keeping anything on that harddrive at all, not even the partitioning structure. Since I can do it all fresh I'd rather do it "right" from the start rather than altering partitions later.
I want to ensure that the frequently accessed files (ie the OS partitions) are located on the physical outer rim of the hard disk since that is the fastest part of the drive. AND I want the partition I'm going to store video and other files (large files rarely accessed) at the inner portion of the drive where it's slowest. This is easy to set up using a single OS, but I'm not sure how to do it with a dual boot especially since I'm not familiar with linux and don't know what partitions it likes to have.
I've read that linux likes 10G for root, 1G for home, and 1G for swap & var (12G + a 4.7G FAT32). Is that a good setup to start with? Which of these should I make a primary partition?
BTW: I like to have lots of partitions under windows to make backing up easier. I carve up my drives based on use. IE one for WinXP only, one for programs running under XP, another for games, another for data files I've created myself, another for big files like video, etc. I've decided on 8 partitions (Fat32 & NTFS) for WinXP, one 4.7G Fat32 partition of which will be tasked as a slush between XP and Linux so it's easy to transfer files from XP to Linux.
My plan is currently to:
1. Format the current drive,
2. Release the partition (so the whole thing is unpartitioned)
3. Set up ALL the partitions when installing WinXP (and install it)
4. Convert the partitions to a Linux friendly filesystem as part of a linux install
5. Install Linux
See any issues with that? What's a good way to optimally partition a WinXP and Ubuntu drive?