Snapshot
The following output of a command line tool shows the layout of a disk with two logical drives. Details for the FAT and NTFS partitions stripped, the line annotated with Linux is /dev/hda6 with an extended file system. The begin of /dev/hda5 shows that the involved operating systems PC DOS 7, Windows NT, and Debian do not insist on any extended partition alignment with a gap:
\\.\PHYSICALDRIVE0 (assuming geometry CHS 99999 255 63) id. MBR CHS 0 0 1 at 0, end 0 0 1, size 1
unused CHS 0 0 2 at 1, end 0 0 63, size 62
1:*06: CHS 0 1 1 at 63, end 260 254 63, size 4192902 bigFAT
2: 05: CHS 261 0 1 at 4192965, end 757 254 63, size 7984305 => EXT
3: 17: CHS 758 0 1 at 12177270, end 1522 254 63, size 12289725 NTFS
4: 1C: CHS 1523 0 1 at 24466995, end 1825 254 63, size 4867695 FAT32 (extended offset 4192965) total 29334690
=> EXT CHS 261 0 1 at 0, end 261 0 1, size 1
5: 06: CHS 261 0 2 at 1, end 384 254 63, size 1992059 bigFAT
6: 05: CHS 385 0 1 at 1992060, end 757 254 63, size 5992245 => EXT (extended offset 6185025) total 7984305
=> EXT CHS 385 0 1 at 0, end 385 0 1, size 1
unused CHS 385 0 2 at 1, end 385 0 63, size 62
6: 83: CHS 385 1 1 at 63, end 757 254 63, size 5992182 Linux
7: 00: CHS 0 0 0 at 0, end 0 0 0, size 0 unused total 5992245
bigFAT CHS 0 1 1 at 63, end 260 254 63, size 4192902
PC DOS 7 (cluster size 64, number 65506) total 4192902 NTFS CHS 758 0 1 at 12177270, end 1522 254 63, size 12289725 (cluster size 8, number 1536215) total 12289725 FAT32 CHS 1523 0 1 at 24466995, end 1825 254 63, size 4867695 (cluster size 8, number 607271) total 4867695
bigFAT CHS 261 0 2 at 4192966, end 384 254 63, size 1992059
FAT SWAP (cluster size 32, number 62236) total 1992059
For another example see the "Linux Partition HOWTO".