On Wed, 2011-08-31 at 21:41 -0400, Jonathan Vomacka wrote: > Also, any help you can give me regarding a partition map would be great. I'm probably different to many of the others who seem to have fixed ideas. I'm relatively new to Linux but not to computers. I assume your machine is a single user machine. If so, I would suggest 3 primary partitions (if the partition table is MS-DOS) each about 10 GB. These can be used for different operating systems, Centos, BSD etc. because the machine will multi-boot. A fourth partition made into an extended partition. The extended partition then made into several logical partitions to provide you with all the space you need. You do not need to use all the space in the extended partition and can keep the unused and unallocated extra space for future requirements. In the main Centos partition you can mount, using the entries in /etc/fstab, the logical partitions from the extended partition and attach them to whatever place you wish. Centos is very flexible. I mount extended (from the same HDD) and external (from other HDDs) partitions in /ax. I store confidential data on extended partitions and use LUKS to encrypt the entire extended partition. I also use LUKS on laptops and netbooks. This is my personal preference. I like the idea of having space for other operating systems in the 3 primary partitions. One can also use some of the space in the extended partition for more logical partitions to contain more operating systems. You can access data files stored on extended partitions from any of the operating system partitions (after being mounted of course) Centos 5.6 takes, depending on install options, between about 3.5 and 4 and a bit GB. Having everything in one big super partition on a end-user machine makes handling awkward. Breaking it down into manageable chunks is my preference. Remember it is your machine so you can be as flexible or as inflexible as you wish. I am sure some will have their own preferences totally radically different from mine. Best regards, Paul.