Three cents of my analysis (2 cents is specialty of @Andy_Wismer).
The list of “spacehogs” of Nethserver is quite… defined.
- Mailboxes
- SMB Shares
- NextCloud data folder
- DB of complex apps
Therefore, after take a look on documentation you can (if you desire) mount or symlink some paths to spacedisk you prefer.
Also don’t forget that LVM is installed by default, gaining the advantage of Cockpit partitioning tool.
But the most important question is: what you’ll use NethServer for?
File Server? This is quite hard to tell how diskspace it will need, maybe you have to evaluate your current server and your current space increment, so you can try to plan the starting size and even the growing side you are expecting. Put some deadlines to verify if expected data consumption is consistent with actual data consumption and you can define a future upgrade of storage for your setup.
CloudServer? Similarly to the FileServer, you have to evaluate all your current cloudspace used (i think you would like to consolidate into your setup) and the data growth of the current cloud solution/s, plus add a bit more overhead due to nextcloud features you would like to add.
MailServer? Verify your current data usage, match it with the expected future mailbox list and a quota you consider fitting your needs, it will give you (more or less) the disk size you need.
Andy told you about the “easyness” to growth the single-partition installation: i can confirm.
My test installation of NethServer is an old desktop PC, and one day a friendly message from smartctl told me “guy, you would like to change your HD, believe me”.
I found a “not that old” replacement hard drive, which was not the same size.
Long story short, this is how the things went
If that’s no obvious enough, the “not so old” drive was a bit bigger than the “you want to change it”