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hard drive caddies for iMacs
- Thread starter ashokc
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Macs can read but not write NTFS, so you may be able to transfer data one time to HFS or FAT32 formatted drives if you want to directly use the data on the Mac. A Firewire external case would be best for transfer.
After copying the data, you could reformat the drive(s)
Alternatively, as you mentioned, you could share the drives to the Mac via a network server. Some NAS units will want to reformat the drive before sharing it -- obviously not the thing you want to do. Most NAS units run on Linux variants (not Windows), and don't use NTFS drives.
THe only way to directly share the data that I know of, without copying or the risk of formatting, is to attach then to a Windows machine and do Windows file sharing from there.
After copying the data, you could reformat the drive(s)
Alternatively, as you mentioned, you could share the drives to the Mac via a network server. Some NAS units will want to reformat the drive before sharing it -- obviously not the thing you want to do. Most NAS units run on Linux variants (not Windows), and don't use NTFS drives.
THe only way to directly share the data that I know of, without copying or the risk of formatting, is to attach then to a Windows machine and do Windows file sharing from there.
I was in a similar situation with my macbook so I ordered two macally firewire enclosures. I couldnt daisychain them becuase they conflicted with each other somehow. I could only run one at a time and that was frustrating so I read up on FreeNas. Since I had a few old pc's laying around I decided to give it a go. WOW is all I can say. Its super easy to use and keeps me from having ext. enclosures laying all around. I put the pc in my closet with a power cable and an ethernet cable hooked up. That's it! It is all administered through a web window. The hardrives show up as network drives and work fine. I know its not the exact answer you were looking for but its what I came up with when I was in your situation. Google FreeNas and you'll find tons of info.
Zack
Zack
I saw that Newer Tech. released an NAS product of their own: http://www.newertech.com/products/ministackNAS.php I believe you can buy it bare and insert the drive of your choice.
That newer tech one looks really nice its a shame they dont sell one that allows space for more than one drive!
You might remind them that it's important. Of course, with 1 TB drives, they probably don't want to get into a RAID configuration.
There are any number of NAS drive enclosures that allow you to install your own drives -- the point is though that most if not all of them will require you to reformat the disks, and the data will be lost.