HDDs and static partitioning

The best way to install Linux IMO is by sectioning the OS installation and some of the main folders in separate partitions.

The whole OS should be in one partition, but /home, and /tmp content should be in separate partitions.

When you see devices with the s like /dev/sda it refers to SATA disks, the h letter is for IDE disks, which also, the last letter in this case, refers to the master partition, and the rest b,c,d are the one referred to slaves

The MBR partitioning method sets 4 primary disk partitions, while the GPT sets up 128.

Extended partitions can also be done. Usually, you have three primary partitions, one for the kernel, one for the virtual memory, and another for the OS itself. Then, you can have logic partitions that can be used for OS directories on the main structure