• /boot: Minimum 16m, place for the kernels
• Swap: Minimum 128m, place for virtual memory. This should be increased up to the double of ram you have. This is especially important if you are building a database server as those are hungry for swap space. Graphic artist workstations will also appreciate a nice wide Swap partition.
• / : (root) Minimum 250m, place for the basic core of Linux. It includes libraries, system utilities, some programs and the configuration files.
• /Var : Minimum 250m, place for the files that change a lot (logs, mail server components and print server spool files are examples). This should be increased if you are using a server that handles a lot of entries. Mail servers or computers with a lot of security auditing are examples here.
• /usr : Minimum 500m (should be more than 500m), more or less the equivalent of Program Files, programs and applications come here. An application server should have a lot of space here.
• /home : Minimum 500m (should be more than 500m), again, more or less the equivalent of “My Documents” this is the place where the users have their files and specific configurations. File servers should be putting a lot of space here since most users tend to fill up their home folders.

• Ext2: this is the most common file system for Linux. It offers stability, file permission and speed although it is very sensible to power failures or improper shutdowns. The reason is that it caches data before writing it to disk. In the event of a blackout, the data in the cache might get corrupted. This forces the system to run FSCK on the next boot to detect corruption.
• Linux Swap: As its name says, this is the preferred file system for the swap partition.
• ReiserFS: This is a “newer” Linux file system. It is a journaling file system which basically means that every new entry to the drive gets a corresponding entry in a log (journal) file. In the event of a power failure, the file system can rebuild the missing entries instead of going into extensive integrity checking.
• Ext3: This is supposed to be the next Linux Journaling file system. It is currently still under development and may never be adopted since ReiserFS is growing in popularity.

• BIND: (Berkeley Internet Name Domain) is the most used DNS server on the internet. It is built on a strong architecture, it is secure and reliable. (http://www.isc.org/products/BIND/)
• Ipchains: This is used as a firewall, router, gateway, etc. It supports IP masquerading, port filtering and transparent proxy.
• KDE: This is a graphical user interface based on the Xwindows system like Gnome (www.kde.org).
• Postfix: A Sendmail alternative with many other options (see also Qmail) (www.postfix.com)
• Qmail: A Sendmail alternative with many other options (see also postfix) (http://www.qmail.org)
• SAMBA: SAMBA is a SMB client/server application (just as any windows server) that provides smb file and print services. In other words it enables a Linux server to become a file server for a Microsoft based network. (www.samba.org)
• Sendmail: This is a mail transfer agent. Despite what it is called, it doesn’t just send mail. It is a very complete mail tool that can handle most mail server operations. (http://www.sendmail.org).

Software Availability
As you might have seen from the previous sections, most software for Linux is freely available on the internet. Most distributions will be also available in stores near you and will usually carry more goodies than the downloadable versions (often including tech support).

Advantages of Choosing Linux
One of the most noticeable features of Linux is it’s free nature. With the high cost of licenses associated with commercial operating systems, a small priced OS is often more than welcomed by many management staff. However, the most important feature of Linux is its open nature. The fact that the code is available to everybody makes sure that any bug can be resolved by anyone with the proper skills. Note that Linux has also a reputation for having excellent performance and reliability.