Extra disks are typically mounted in a directory called /media/something
where the something reflects the mounted device, e.g. /media/cdrom0
for the first CD-ROM device. This convention is widely followed under Linux for removable devices, and often but not always for permanent devices.
The FHS forbids distributions from using directories under /mnt
because some administrators use /mnt
itself as a mount point for temporary mounts. If you're the administrator, you can do what you like; just don't use /mnt
itself as a mount point if you create directories under it.
Many places have their own convention. Some automounters have their own directory or directories (configured through /etc/fstab
and /etc/auto.*
); /amnt
or /auto
are typical names. Network mounts are often put under /net/$machine_name
. Some places just use whatever went through the administrator's mind: /data
, /local
, /scratch
, …
Of course, filesystems that have a specific place in the directory structure should be mounted there. For example, the mail partition is normally mounted directly on /var/mail
or /var/spool/mail
. If your home directories are spread between several disks, it's typical to mount them underneath /home
, e.g. ~alice
= /home/disk0/alice
and ~bill
= /home/disk1/bill
and so on, if you want to expose the different disks in home directories. If you don't, then mount the home partitions wherever you like and create symbolic links or automounts in /home
.