So, another one of those partitioning threads... Since how you do that is a very personal, use-case related matter, and what I've already found here is also pretty old - best practice changes all the time, and its been years since I last customized my partition table away from Linux installer defaults. So here goes my request for partitioning advice in 2021:

1. I have two SSDs in my laptop, one with 1 TB, and one with 500 GB
2. I'd like to start using Timeshift, and I read that some people store Timeshift backups on a separate partition: I'm guessing that would be to protect against hardware failure - and in that light it would only make sense on a separate drive, not just a different partition on the same drive. What are other reasons, if any, to put Timeshift backups on a separate partition?
3. Some people also have /home in an extra partition. I've tried it once, it was a huge hassle and I didn't quite see the advantage, so I went back to leaving /home right there with the other brothers. But that was years ago. Again, what are other good reasons for doing that, besides... I don't know, one step less when your system won't boot and you have to re-install? Which brings me to:
4. I have a habit of leaving a smaller partition free, sufficient for a second Linux, on any system, mostly for desaster recovery (unbootable main distro, need to recovery files from /home), maybe checking out a new distro every now and then. On the other hand, you can always use a live bootable flash drive for that (at least I haven't run into a situation where that wouldn't cut it for some reason - maybe booting to an installed system is just more convenient. And if you happen not to have a live medium handy, you can't use your unbootable OS to create one).
5. Recently I first heard about sharing /home between multiple OSs, which makes sense if a) you *do* actually install more than one Linux on a system, and b) you want to share disk space c) what are other reasons to do that (or not). Is it a lot of trouble, risque, difficult?
6. All normal desktop use for programming, productivity.. no server use (except development servers).

I'm also glad if you just wanna suggest a concrete partitioning scheme, like "do it so-and-so", no reasons given.
Thanks for reading!

Having timeshift images on a separate device makes sense in the same cases where having journals on a separate device makes sense: it removed the extra writes from your primary device. In the case where you have a mixture of SSD and rotational devices, that can extend the life of your SSD device significantly. Where you have multiple SSD devices, that would only make sense if they were different technologies with one able to handle far more I/O cycles than the other.



In your case it might make sense to store backups of device 1 on device 2, and backups for device 2 on device 1 so that a single device failure is more quickly recoverable. This also assumes that you have some REAL backups created and tested in some rotation offsite, so a total machine disaster (think rolling smoke and melted drives with additional water damage and a stern warning form the fire marshal) does not trash your backups.

1 members found this post helpful.

So I take it that's the case between HDDs and SSDs - a HDD can handle far more I/O cycles over its lifespan?

A separate home partition could make it easier to recover your data if the system crashes and you can reinstall without losing your data or custom settings if you are careful and do not reformat your home partition.

I do not suggest sharing a home partition. Different versions/distributions use different desktop/settings and if they use the same configuration file could cause problems.

1 members found this post helpful.

Rotational drives are a very mature technology, and well known. The lifespan is a mixture of hours of operation and I/O and the numbers are really quite large. SSD is newer and still evolving. The lifespan is based mostly on the number of writes, rather than hours. The numbers started MUCH smaller than those for rotational drives, but have been improving quickly. Journals add a lot of writes. To maximize the lifespan of SSD storage it makes sense to do what you can to reduce the number of writes. If you have a mixture, you want to eliminate atime writes and keep the journals on the rotational drives to maximize the life of your storage.

In your case, with only SSD storage, it is more important to use a format that handles SSD intelligently. the only way to be certain of reducing the writes using traditional filesystem formats would be to eliminate atime and not use journals. Clearly, there is a certain level of risk in eliminating journals, and only the owner/operator can do a proper risk assessment for their personal operation. (Or you can take the safe route, and make regular multigenerational backups like a pro. That way you can do a "to new iron" restore when this go south and not live with worry about it. )

The newest technology SSD devices make this less critical, as the life numbers have improved dramatically. If the pace of advancements were to continue we could retire all rotational rust for SSD devices with faster performance AND longer lives in normal use within ten years. I am not at all certain that pace can be maintained, so please don't dis my crystal ball if that does not come to pass.

Older technology drives tend to be cheaper when the new ones come out. That can be a great time to get a deal, so long as you understand you may be paying for a device with a shorter life, or more limited I/O limits. Lately we have discovered some vendors using misleading labels to misidentify devices as newer technology than they really are, so if you purchase new devices know what you are looking for and keep your wits about you.

1 members found this post helpful.

You can timeshift to other DRIVES(recommended).
Cloud.
MEGA
Thumb(usb)
Time-shift is idiot proof(I R 1)