pros and cons of mounting /tmp

[Phil Ngai]

I thought I would write down the pros and cons of mounting /tmp
and see what others think. All this assumes at least 2 disks.

PRO
---
1) If your users are on the first disk and /tmp is on the second,
then both disks are kept busy during compiles, sorts, etc.

2) The amount of writing on the root filesystem is reduced by a
great deal. If you crash (we've been crashing a lot but that's another
story) the root filesystem will probably still be consistent. This
reduces the chance of losing it, along with important files like
/etc/passwd. During the past week we crashed about 8 times a day
and root was always consistent.

CON
---
1) You have to give up a filesystem. I usually use hp1a, which some
sites keep an extra copy of root on. PRO 2 means this probably won't
be a problem as often but does not protect against a head crash on hp0.

2) You have to set up /etc/fstab and remember to make the mounted
filesystem 777 mode too. I've been burned by this, although not for long.

-- 
 Just another valley guy
 Phil Ngai (408) 982-6554
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