New Internal HD Partition Guidance!

[Bazzy]

Hi All,

I have a Early 2012 17" MBP & will soon be upgrading the existing factory supplied Hard Drive for something much bigger - it is a few years old now & probably might give out in the future so I thought why not just get a newer & bigger one as I need the extra space anyway.

I would like to ask, if I wish to partition the new drive into two equal parts of say 1TB each, how should they be named? Should it be:

Partition 1: Macintosh HD
Partition 2: Mackintosh HD 2 or Macintosh HD B

or something else?

The reason I am asking about this, is I am thinking about using one partition as per normal for my stuff & the other for keeping certain client & business confidential data/info which I can then password protect or encrypt etc. If I ever get hacked or the lose the laptop/data, at least I have some assurance to clients that their data was encrypted or password protected etc.

Is this a good idea or is there a better way?

If I do not partition immediately, can it be done at a later date without losing any information/data on the single Mackintosh HD & be able to transfer data to any newly created partition?

Many Thanks!

 

[casperes1996]

If I do not partition immediately, can it be done at a later date without losing any information/data on the single Mackintosh HD & be able to transfer data to any newly created partition?

Yeah, it actually can. There are certain rules as to how partitioning can be done whilst retaining data. It's hierarchical, so let's say you make three partitions
1) Starting partition 500GB
2) Extra stuff 500GB
3) Other extra stuff 1TB

You can remove 3 and expand 2 to be 1.5TB, but you can't delete 3 and expand 1. You also can't delete 2 without first deleting 3. It all must be done from highest number down. With only two partitions however, there's pretty much no limitations in terms of changing the split between the two almost at any time without data loss and so on.

Regarding what to name them, it really doesn't matter. Anything you like. My partitioning setup is named

1) Macintosh HD
2) BootCamp (guess why)
3) E (it's FAT, so only a single letter can be used, and it stands for extra)

 

[Fishrrman]

You can partition the internal drive -- no problem.

You'll just have to give some thought as to what sizes the partitions will be, what you name them, and how you set them up.

I would make "the first" partition the one you use to boot the computer.

 

[Weaselboy]

The reason I am asking about this, is I am thinking about using one partition as per normal for my stuff & the other for keeping certain client & business confidential data/info which I can then password protect or encrypt etc. If I ever get hacked or the lose the laptop/data, at least I have some assurance to clients that their data was encrypted or password protected etc.

Is this a good idea or is there a better way?

There really is not anything gained by using partitions and it just makes organizing everything more complicated in my view.

I would just use one partition and create a separate folder under your user account for the client info. Then you can either encrypt the entire drive using FileVault or you can place the contents of just that client folder inside encrypted disk image (bottom of this document).

The first FileVault option is the better option since it encrypts everything on the drive and it very transparent as far as usability.

 

[casperes1996]

There really is not anything gained by using partitions and it just makes organizing everything more complicated in my view.

Well, separate partitions do offer benefits like being able to dual boot, using different file formats for different thing, i.e. using HFS+ for your main partition, but FAT for a second such that data is more easily shared with other OS's. Then there's the option to section out a bit of a drive to use in a RAID array with a bit of another drive - not something I explicitly recommend, but something partitioning allows.
In the OP's case, I agree with your alternative approach, but partitioning do have benefits in some circumstances.

 

[Weaselboy]

In the OP's case, I agree with your alternative approach, but partitioning do have benefits in some circumstances.

Understood, and I was not addressing all use cases, but rather OP's question/scenario.