Ubunt Easy Partition during Installation

It is tempting to install Ubuntu using the "entire disk". One of the drawbacks is you will lose your data if you reinstall Ubuntu again. (e.g. fix broken ubuntu or you simply want a fresh install)

The easiest way to store your personal files and configuration is to have a "/home" partition during installation. You can think /home as "My Documents" under Windows. Now you will need to install your Ubuntu on the "/" partition. You can think of "/" as "C:" under Windows. You will need at least 2GB for the "/" partition. However, if you plan to install some programs, Ubuntu recommends you to get at least 8GB for the "/" partition. Also make sure you have a swap partition which is the same or double the size of your RAM.

In summary, you can have the following configuration for your disk partition:

/          --> 16GB or more

/home -->  the rest goes to here

swap  -->  2GB

Reference:
https://help.ubuntu.com/8.04/switching/installing-partitioning.html
https://help.ubuntu.com/8.04/installation-guide/i386/partition-sizing.html