My Partitioning Strategy

Synopsis

• Partitioning shall be done with Partition Magic, Acronis Disk Director or GParted. GParted is the preferred tool. However, compatibility of the partition table is important between different partitioning tools.
  
• The current and the past partition layout must be kept on an external media at all time. This layout is produced by the command “fdisk -l -u /dev/[sh]d?” in Linux. The resulting file can be read by a text editor.
  
• The MBR shall contain the boot code installed by Debian's mbr package.
  
• The first primary partition shall be about 96MB in size, formatted FAT16 and installed with SYSLINUX bootloader and FreeDOS.
  
• Another primary partition shall host OpenBSD or Windows XP.
  
• One extended partition will be reserved to host any number of logical partitions containing OS, swap and data.
  
• The first logical partition inside the extended partition will always be Linux swap for hibernation usage. The second logical partition will be Linux swap exclusively.
  
• After Linux swap, the order of logical partitions shall be Linux partitions, Windows partitions and FAT16/FAT32 partitions containing personal data.
  

Limitation of PC partition table

As I expect to install and explore multiple OS on a single hard drive, I realize the difficulties caused by partitioning limitations. The major limitation is that we can only have up to 4 primary partitions. However, we need a single extended partition so that we can have more than 4 partitions — an extended partition can contain an infinite number of logical partitions in itself. Thus, my final partition layout would have 3 primary partitions and one extended partition.

Recovery Partition

Most manufactured computers have Windows pre-installed. The trend today is that PC vendors (HP, Compaq, Dell, Toshiba etc.) provide a system recovery partition so that users can restore their system back to the factory state in problematic occasions. I don't recommend anyone to remove or erase the System Recovery partition for any reason — even if he actually bought an expensive retail box of Microsoft Windows CD/DVD. Thus, with an intact System Recovery partition (which is a primary partition because it must boot up with a custom Windows installer), we can only have up to 2 primary partitions and one extended partition for our own use.

The vendor-provided Recovery partition shall never be removed, but it can contain custom boot codes (for example, GRUB). Assuming that the Recovery partition is formatted as FAT filesystem, you can install GRUB into the Recovery partition so that you can have a nice boot menu for you to choose an OS from when you turn on your PC. If the Recovery partition is formatted as NTFS, GRUB for DOS should be installed instead because the original GRUB cannot natively read NTFS. Alternatively, GRUB can be installed into a logical partition.

There's a way to create a custom Windows XP OEM CD from the System Recovery partition, as explained on howtohaven.com. Once you've created a Windows XP OEM CD, you may remove the Recovery partition at your own peril.

Allocation of Primary Partitions

Now, we have 2 precious primary partitions to allocate to demanding operating systems after we decided to keep one System Recovery partition and one extended partition. Such demanding OS's include Microsoft Windows and *BSD (i.e. NetBSD, OpenBSD, FreeBSD, etc). Since people using *BSD are very hard to find, I assume you'll use both of the two primary partitions for Windows installations, for example, one for Windows 7 and the other for Windows Vista. In my case, I will reserve one primary partition for OpenBSD and another for Windows Vista Home Premium since I use OpenBSD, though not as often as Linux.

Space reserved for Vista/Win7 Boot Codes

When Vista is installed on a fresh new hard drive, the first NTFS partition is created starting at the 2048th sector. However, to reserve space for Vista boot codes, I will create the first primary partition beginning at the 96390th sector.

Extended Partition

The extended partition can contain an unlimited number of logical partitions. Therefore, inside the extended partition, I am free to install as many OS's as I wish if there's enough space. I can install Windows XP or a variety of Linux distributions on logical partitions. The first logical partition (/dev/sda5) should be a Linux swap partition because it is the place that should rarely change or move.

To Do

• Write about shared User data partition for multiple Windows OS's
  
• Setting up Read-only Linux partition and Changeable Linux partitions with the help of Unionfs

Project Directive: Building an Industrial PC

Project Directive

This directive outlines the purpose and requirements of the computer to be built in the near future.

Purpose of the Product

The machine will serve various purposes as stated below.

1. Internet Gateway: The machine will be running almost always with constant wired or wireless connection to the Internet. The machine will have a gateway capability to connect other machines to the Internet via an Ethernet switch or wireless connection.
   
2. Network Server: The machine will store and serve files (ex. pictures, music, movies, etc.) to clients both on private network and the Internet. However, the served files shall be stored and retrieved from an external storage device connected via USB, Firewire or eSATA.
   
3. Internet Entertainment: The machine may be casually used to browse the Internet, hang out in social networks, read news, check Web mail and engage in text/voice/video conversation with others on the Internet.
   
4. Multimedia Player: The machine will be able to play music, Internet radio and movies on stereo system, TV or monitor. It may be optionally controlled by a remote controller, wireless keyboard or mouse.
   
5. Time-consuming Computations: The machine will optionally perform various computational tasks such as compilation of executable codes, encryption, decryption, statistical analysis and conversion of data.
   

Hardware Requirements

The machine shall occupy minimal space, and operate quietly and energy-efficiently.

1. Its circuit board will be in Pico-ITX (100x72mm), Nano-ITX (120x120mm), Mini-ITX (170x170mm), or similarly compact form.
   
2. The CPU will be Mobile AMD Sempron, VIA Nano or Intel Atom. In order to maintain quiet operation, it is recommended that the CPU have no fan attached.
   
3. At least 256MB of volatile memory is required. SODIMM-type memory is recommended.
   
4. Non-volatile memory will take the form of compact flash, Solid-State Drive or 2.5 inch hard drive. At least 256MB of non-volatile memory is required. Additional storage will be attached externally through USB, Firewire or eSATA ports.
   
5. The machine will have a minimum number of external connectors such as one PS/2, VGA, S-Video, audio in/out, LAN and at least 2 USB ports. No serial or parallel port is required.
   
6. The machine will contain no floppy or CD-ROM drive.
   

Software Requirements

The primary operating system will be Linux. Optionally, Windows XP or Windows Vista will be installed as a dual-boot option.

1. The non-volatile memory storage in the system will store a functional boot loader that can boot the system from internal storage, external storage attached via USB/Firewire/eSATA, or network storage via BOOTP/TFTP.
   
2. It is optional but recommended for the internal storage to contain a functional Linux operating system that meets the project purposes stated above. No private user-specific information shall be stored. For stability and data integrity, it is also recommended to write-protect the operating system and disable modification for a long period of time. Periodically (monthly, quarterly, every 4 months, or semianually), the whole operating system will be unlocked, updated with newer versions, and optimized with new settings.
   
3. If Windows operating system is to be used, it will be installed on a USB hard drive and started by the boot loader.
   
4. All variable/extraneous settings and data will be stored externally on a USB flash or USB hard drive.
   
5. The machine should allow remote logins by local computers via SSH, HTTP, VNC or Remote Desktop sessions.
   

Candidate Parts

• Asus Eee Box
  
  
• HP Compaq t5730 Thin Client - KD219AT#ABA
  
  
• VIA ARTiGO Builder Kit inspired by Pico ITX with 1GB SODIMM Memory Free!
  
• ECS PMI8M (2.0) Motherboard CPU Bundle - Intel Socket 479, Mini-ITX, Intel 852GM Chipset, Intel Celeron M 1Ghz Processor On-Board
  
• Mini Itx Via CN700 8237R+ DDR2 by MSI
  
• SolidLogic T-3310 Mini-ITX System
  
• Jetway J7F2WE1G2E
  

Who's to Blame for Economic Downfall?

When a natural disaster strikes, we have no one to blame but God or Mother Nature. Yet, when the economy goes bad, there surely is someone to blame because economy is totally a human affair. Now that the US economy is freefalling and possibly heading for the second Great Depression, many bright minds are asking themselves: How did the economy arrive at this mess? Who's responsible for this economic downfall?

Who Killed the Economy? @ Yahoo! Video

An ongoing poll by Portpolio.com allows people to play a blame game in which they pick the culprit "who's most responsible for the current economic crisis." More than 20,000 people have participated in this poll. Some of the candidates are as follows:

Alan Greenspan

Former Chairman of Federal Reserve, Alan Greenspan was once revered by everyone in Academia as economic genius, but now no one seems to hesitate pointing finger at him as the chief culprit of US economic doom. Overly supportive of easing lending standards and keeping low-interest rates too long, he's in part responsible for the current subprime debacle.

All the time, his low-rate, cheap-money mantra fooled low-income people with second-rate credit into believing that he was looking out for them, but all along, he was kissing up to greedy mortgage lenders, creating financial monsters doomed to self-destruction.

Now, we've seen continous collapses of financial institutions: American Home Mortgage, Countrywide Financial, Bear Stearns, IndyMac, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Lehman Brothers, Merrill Lynch, AIG and Washington Mutual. It all started with overly deregulated policies of Alan Greenspan. Talk about free market. It led to market failure.

President Bush

Mr. President must have got bad grades in Economics in college. Or, is it simply that he was ill-advised by his advisors? Obviously, his priorities were not on U.S. Economy, but rather on War against Terrorism. His mind was so occupied with wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and with threats from the so-called axis of evil — Iran and North Korea — that he failed to notice the early signs of failing domestic economy. He kept using the same stimulus gimmicks and rate cuts to keep the economy alive and the Republicans in power. Now that the economy is crashing, his 700 billion dollar rescue plan may be too late, too costly for already suffering people.

Moody's and S&P

These ratings agencies gave too rosy credit ratings for shaky financial companies. Their misleading ratings for failing investment bankers have left the market unprepared for the coming turmoil. When it all came, it was too late for many investors and bankers. People put too much faith in these ratings agencies. And now we suffer.

Hedge Funds

Those who invest in hedge funds are a select group of greedy wealthy investors who engage in short selling of risky investments for quick and big money. Their short selling activities have resulted in roller coaster ride of the stock market. Those reckless hedge fund managers wanted quick profits and made all the odd, risky investments that, when the market began to crumble, had dire effects on the financial market. The recent crackdown on short selling in Wall Street should give a good lesson to those greedy risk-takers.

Angelo Mozilo

Cofounder of Countrywide Financial and IndyMac, he let Countrywide hand out mortgages like play money. Countrywide, like many other mortgage lenders, doled out easy money to subprime home buyers without income or job verification. But by 2007 Countrywide was struggling with rising rates. Countrywide's collapse and subsequent bailout by Bank of America was a prelude to the current financial market meltdown.

OPEC

Some don't seem able to make connection between soaring oil price and the current financial crisis. My understanding is that high oil price has caused several airline bankruptcies, inflation and rising costs of living. The soaring gas price and inflation have put so much burden on people that they couldn't pay their mortgages any more. That's how the housing bubble started. People blame OPEC for keeping oil supply tight and driving oil price high. But I disagree. I believe the high gas price is the result of speculatory investing. Who are the real conspirators, Arab nations plotting against infidels or greedy Wall Street speculators? Anyway, it's time to invest in the development of alternative energy resources.

Fannie and Freddie

These government-subsidized, publically traded mortgage companies made too many bad loans on home mortgages with taxpayer's money. When the real estate values slid, their poor management has caused loss of consumer confidence in the housing market and caused their stock prices to hit the bottom. Government bailout of these companies would only cost taxpayers plenty money.

National Association of Realtors

This group of crooks ripped millions of home buyers with fraudulent real estate appraisals and relentlessly put out misleading positive outlooks on the real estate market even as it began to plummet. If they had been honest with home buyers, people wouldn't have bought those townhouses in Naples, Florida or Phoenix and later go default on bad loans.

China

When we get trouble, we blame it on our trade partner. But if you think about it, which country in the world has the greatest demand for the globe's natural resources and caused oil price to skyrocket? Not only that, China continues to give US trade deficit and keeps piling in our dollars. All this weakened our economy and contributed to the current crisis. China must stop exporting poisoned food. It's time we find a new trade partner who knows what moral and ethics truly mean. How about India, Mexico or Brazil?

After all, I believe everyone is both a participant and a victim of this economic debacle that stemmed from greed. And we all have to share the pain for a long time.