Partitioning Scheme for DB server

I am getting rid of Vista (p.i.a.) and converting the computer to a single boot Linux database server.

I have 1TB of HD space (2 500GB HDs) and plan to use Postgresql as a large database for a personal application (large stock and options db). The app will be a combination of Java (for the web application) and C/C++ for number crunching.

I also plan to have a small MySQL db for testing and learning PHP web applications and to prototype my Drupal website.

I'm wondering what type of partitioning scheme I should have here. I don't need that large a space for the MySQL DB, PHP/Drupal/Apache/Tomcat and other apps (I figure about 100GB for that total), but the main and DB might get spread across two HD's.

1) Where does the data reside in a Postgresql database... I mean what directory /var or what?
2) What is the usual place one puts a /www directory
3) About how large should I make those directories and can one spread a Postgresql db across multiple HD's?

I appreciate any help.

Thanks

Stephen McConnell
- Boredom is a personal defect.

Well I guess people are slow to respond, so I'm doing the research myself.

Having moderated topics in several other programming forums, I feel if you find the answer to your question, you should post it yourself. As I find out info, I'll post it and then summarize it when I'm finished.

The first thing I've found out is that MySQL has all the features I need, so I probably won't use Postgresql. I haven't looked at MySQL deeply in a couple of years and it has improved tremendously. It has:

• Tablespaces with the ability to indicate the specific data file and partition in which the tablespace will reside.
• The ability to have several server instances on a single machine.
• Clustering
• True foreign keys
• Subselects
• ANSI SQL complient datatypes
• Triggers
• Stored Procedures

Very nice.... Ok this is a start.

Now, I need to figure out approximately how large I want the various databases and tablespaces to be and where I want to put them. And then it's on to the Web servers - size and location of webapps/html files.

Hi ho....

Well, I was wrong about Tablespaces in MySQL.... At least the version that installs in Kubuntu Linux (5.0) and is in their APT repository.

Tablespaces aren't supported until MySQL 5.1 and not completely until 6.0... So, I guess it's back to Postgresql. I'm checking out the internals of that now.

Hi ho....