4.7.4. Recommended Partitioning Scheme
The following is a list of recommendations for partitioning your system:
A swap partition (at least 256 MB) — swap partitions are used to support virtual memory. In other words, data is written to a swap partition when there is not enough RAM to store the data your system is processing.
If you are unsure about what size swap partition to create, make it twice the amount of RAM on your machine. It must be of type swap.
Creation of the proper amount of swap space varies depending on a number of factors including the following (in descending order of importance):
The applications running on the machine.
The amount of physical RAM installed on the machine.
The version of the OS.
Swap should equal 2x physical RAM for up to 2 GB of physical RAM, and then 1x physical RAM for any amount above 2 GB, but never less than 32 MB.
Using this formula, a system with 2 GB of physical RAM would have 4 GB of swap, while one with 3 GB of physical RAM would have 5 GB of swap. Creating a large swap space partition can be especially helpful if you plan to upgrade your RAM at a later time.
For systems with really large amounts of RAM (more than 32 GB) you can likely get away with a smaller swap partition (around 1x, or less, of physical RAM).
A root partition (500 MB - 5.0 GB) — this is where "/" (the root directory) is located. In this setup, all files — except for files stored in /boot (on x86, AMD64, and Intel EM64T) or /boot/efi (on ia64) — are on the root partition.
A 500 MB partition allows you to install a minimal installation, while a 5.0 GB root partition lets you perform a full installation, choosing all package groups.
If you are using an Itanium system, it is recommended that you create a /boot/efi partition. /boot/efi contains all the installed kernels, initrd images and ELILO configuration files.
You must create a /boot/efi/ partition of type VFAT and at least 100 MB in size as the first primary partition.
For x86, AMD64, and Intel EM64T systems, it is recommended that you create a /boot/ partition (100 MB). /boot/ contains the kernels, along with files used during the bootstrap process. Due to the limitations of most PC BIOSes, creating a small partition to hold these files is a good idea. In most cases, a 100 MB boot partition is sufficient.
If your hard drive is more than 1024 cylinders (and your system was manufactured more than two years ago), you may need to create a /boot/ partition if you want the / (root) partition to use all of the remaining space on your hard drive.
If you have a RAID card, be aware that some BIOSes do not support booting from the RAID card. In cases such as these, the /boot/ partition must be created on a partition outside of the RAID array, such as on a separate hard drive.