Win 8.1 + Ubuntu, 256GB SSD, partitioning scheme

I would like to install Windows 8.1 and Ubuntu(both x64) on a one 256 GB SSD. I need 3 partitions, 2 for systems and 1 shared(NTFS?) for data accessible by both OSes. '/root' and '/home' will be on same Ubuntu's partition, I'd like to move swap into RAM(12GB) with 'zram'.

I'd like to have the largest possible 'data' partition but wouldn't want to run out of space on the system ones.

Basic apps installed on a system partition:

  • Windows: NetBeans, Java (JDK) + optinally Eclipse, MS Office, Photoshop.
  • Ubuntu: R Studio, NetBeans.

1) What would be the optimal partitioning scheme?

I was thinking about:

  • Ubuntu 60 GB Ext4
  • Win8 90 GB NTFS
  • Data ~100GB NTFS

2) Is removing swap in my configuration a good idea?

Thanks :)


Solution 1:

I would:

  • 24 GB Ubuntu System + applications: EXT4,
  • 64 GB Windows System+Applications: NTFS
  • 150 GB /home from Ubuntu and /users from Windows: NTFS

I've run like this for 6 months before deleting Windows altogether and converting NTFS to EXT4 after another couple of months.

If you have 12GB of RAM, use this formula to calculate your swap file needs.