How to partition external HD for backups and storage?

Hey All,
I'm just setting up a backup system for my computer for the first time and need some help. I have purchased Super Duper and a 1TB Fantom firewire external HD and am ready to start, but don't fully know how to begin. Here are some questions:
Question#1 - how do I partition the hard drive?
Question #2 - once I have partitioned it, can the partitions be changed down the road if I need to shift how I allocate the space?
Question #3 - if not, can you help me make guesses to how best to partition it? My internal HD has 74.41 gb capacity but is only using 31.94 gb right now. The fantom external HD uses up a lot of its space in formatting, so it actually has 931.24 GB available.
I was thinking of making two HD backup partitions so that I can alternate them for cloning -- say 70 GB each.
then I want a partition for my iphotos library - maybe 40 GB ( right now the library is 10 gb and I expect to be adding.
then a files partition for documents etc - probably 20 GB.
and a partition for video -- cause I am going to be starting a small documentary and will need to store video and editing. I'm new to this and really have no idea how much room it needs, but maybe 500 GB for starters.
is there some other sort of partition I should create?
any ideas are helpful.
Thanks so much,
Katarina

The reference that baltwo points to is an excellent guide for a new drive. You also have very detailed instructions on creating backups in your SuperDuper Users Guide.
Everyone has their own style of backing up, so do what's comfortable for you. I schedule my backups to run in the middle of the night. They only backup the files that have changed since the last backup, so it shouldn't take that long. My log tells me that SuperDuper took about 14 minutes to perform last night's backup. It's also good to rotate so you have a system that hasn't been touched for a while in case you want that folder you trashed a week ago.
Yes, it is convenient to be able to boot from the clone to repair your internal and vice versa. For instance booting from your clone and running Disk Utility "Repair Disk" is a lot faster than using the DVD. Same goes for any utility you want to run that your internal needs to be not mounted to run like TechTool, DiskWarrior, etc.
It's good to keep another backup and keeping it on the net is fine (as long as you're not compromising any personal data). I really wasn't thinking of your house burning down but more along the lines of a hard drive failing when I made the statement about separate drives Yes, it is good to have a copy of your data "off premesis".given the need for extra free space for the system clones, if my HD is 74 Gb capacity with 32 GB used right now, won't I have plenty of space if I set aside 70 or 74 GB for that partition?Yes, even if your internal grows it should suffice if you stick with the 85% rule.
-mj
[email protected]

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