New iMac: System on SSD, Users on HDD?

Question

I'm setting up a newly purchased iMac, one which has two storage devices, the 256GB SSD and a 2TB HDD. I want to transfer user data from an old machine (an old Power Mac), but there won't be enough room on the SSD to contain all of the user data.
What is the best way to configure the machine so that when I do a data migration, everything will be in its proper place?
Ideally, I would want to have /Users on the HDD and most everything else on the SSD. However, it doesn't look like Snow Leopard supports this directly (i.e., I don't see anything in Disk Utility to set something like this up). I've seen some answers on the web about removing the /Users folder and replacing it with a soft link to a folder on the second volume. Will this work, and is it recommended? Are there better ways to accomplish my desire?
Thanks for any and all advice!

Answer 1

I have the same configuration (altho I have a 1TB HDD). I was able to configure the SSD and HDD fairly simply. My SSD currently contains my OS and Apps. The HDD contains my "users" folder and all data. Here are the step by step instructions.
NOTE 1: I would recommend you follow these instructions PRIOR to migrating your data from your old imac/macbook/macmini. However, I would assume these instructions would still work if you already migrated your data over.
NOTE 2: Don't forget to have all the software updates already installed on your macs before starting.
SECTION 1: Move Home Folder to HDD
1. Click on ‘Macintosh HD’ in the Finder and open the ‘Users’ folder. In here you will find a folder named after your shortname. This is your home folder. As it is currently your active home folder it will have a ‘house’ icon assigned to it. Copy this folder to the 2nd hardrive by simply dragging it. (The copied folder will not have the ‘house’ icon as it is not yet recognized as your active home folder. We will change this in the following steps.)
2. Open the ‘System Preferences’ application from either the Dock, the Applications folder or from the Apple menu.
3. Click on the ‘Accounts’ icon in the ‘System’ section.
4. After entering your password to unlock the padlock, CTL-Click (or right click) on the active admin account (from the list of user accounts in the left pane) to reveal an ‘Advanced Options’ contextual menu. Select this item.
5. You will be presented with a pane full of advanced settings (and also a warning about how you should only change these settings if you know what you are doing!). Ignore all of these settings/fields except for the ‘Home Directory’ option. This is the path that OS X uses to locate your home folder when you login. It should say: /Users/shortname
6. Click on the ‘Choose’ button, and browse to the home folder in the new location (this will be the folder you moved in Step 1 which will be named after your shortname). After you select the new location, the ‘Home directory’ path should change to something like: /Volumes/shortname.
7. OS X will continue to use the original home folder until you restart. So restart the computer and login as normal. To confirm that the new home folder is now active, browse to the folder you copied to the 2nd hardrive and check it has the ‘house’ icon assigned to it. Now that your home folder is successfully located on your 2nd drive, you can delete the original home folder in the Users folder. It should now have a generic folder icon as it is no longer the active home folder.
SECTION 2: Migrating Your Apps From Old Mac
1. I used Migration Assistant (via firewire) and ONLY migrated the Apps. This copied everything over to the SSD seamlessly.
SECTION 3: Migrating Your Data
1. This part is more painstaking as you will need to mainly drag and drop your files from your old mac via Target Disk mode. Once again, I used firewire to do this.
Note: I basically just copied each of the "users" folders' data on my old imac individually to the respective new "users" folders on my new imac (i.e. the one you created in the HDD). Depending on how much data you have will determine how long this takes you.
2. Here is the link for the instructions on how to perform the Target Disk mode transfer. http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1661
You should be all set and your new imac should be johnny f*n blaze now!