Ubuntu on an XPS 14 Ultrabook with mSATA cache and 500GB HD - how to partition for dual boot?

Posted by JDS on Super User See other posts from Super User or by JDS
Published on 2012-08-09T15:46:00Z Indexed on 2012/10/18 17:07 UTC
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Filed under:

ubuntu

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dual-boot

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dell-xps

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hard-drive-cache

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msata

I am getting an XPS 14 ( http://www.dell.com/us/p/xps-14-l421x/pd ) and I want to dual-boot Windows and Ubuntu. This thing has a 500GB standard HD and a 32GB mSATA that can be used as cache.

Does anyone know how this thing is partitioned?
Is the OS installed on the mSATA drive and data is on the big HD?
Is there a BIOS controller or maybe even a Windows driver that makes the mSATA drive and 500GB HD appear contiguous?

I get the impression that something makes the mSATA be used invisibly as cache, but I can't find any technical documentation how that works. My primary concern here is wrt dual-booting Ubuntu. I want to know if I need to partition the mSATA separately, or the big HD, or just partition the "magic" contiguous disk space that appears available to the OS.

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