Can OSX & Windows both mount/read/write to EXT3 drives? Also, general network storage

[mattcube64]

Hi guys!

I have an iMac and MBP, both running Snow Leopard and Windows 7 RC. Since the RC is going to expire soon, I'm going to install Home Premium in a couple days. However, having what basically amounts to four computers is starting to become a pain in the butt! I'm constantly switching back and forth to move files for projects, and I'd prefer to get a single drive to hold everything.

Simplicity wise, I believe I'm looking for some type of home media server. A central location for all my videos, music, pictures, and even backups and psd files.

Unfortunately, as a student, I'm kind of broke, and so I'm trying to do this cheaply.

This D-Link caught my eye:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...55009&cm_re=d-link_nas-_-22-155-009-_-Product

Only $87 after rebate. I have a buddy who will sell me his 1TB drive on the cheap for the time being, so I'll throw that in, and I can expand later.

Is this what I want? I can attach this to my router, and all my computers/OSs can both read and write to the drives in this device, correct?

If so, the only thing that concerns me is the file format. It says both drives are automatically formatted to EXT2 or EXT3. Will that work on everything, or will I run into trouble?

Thanks for all the help!

Matt

 

[GGJstudios]

Any external hard drive will work with PCs or Macs, as long as the connectors are there (Firewire, USB, etc.)
It doesn't matter how the drive is formatted out of the box, since you can re-format any way you like.
Formatting in HFS (Mac OS Extended) or FAT32 or NTFS-3G can be done with Mac's Disk Utility.

FAT32

• Read/Write from both native Windows and native Mac OS X.
• No individual file larger than 4GB.

NTFS

• Read/Write from native Windows.
• Read only from native Mac OS X
• To Read/Write from Leopard: Install MacFUSE and NTFS-3G. You can install both with NTFS-3G for Mac OS X.
• To Read/Write from Snow Leopard: Guide: Enable native NTFS Read/Write in Snow Leopard
• (Be aware that some are of the opinion that enabling native NTFS in SL is unstable/unreliable, and favor the MacFuse/NTFS-3G method for Snow Leopard)

HFS

• Read/Write HFS from native Mac OS X
• To Read/Write HFS from Windows, Install MacDrive
• To Read HFS (but not Write) from Windows, Install HFSExplorer

 

[mattcube64]

Any external hard drive will work with PCs or Macs, as long as the connectors are there (Firewire, USB, etc.)
It doesn't matter how the drive is formatted out of the box, since you can re-format any way you like.
Formatting in HFS (Mac OS Extended) or FAT32 or NTFS-3G can be done with Mac's Disk Utility.

FAT32

• Read/Write from both native Windows and native Mac OS X.
• No individual file larger than 4GB.

NTFS

• Read/Write from native Windows.
• Read only from native Mac OS X
• To Read/Write from Leopard: Install MacFUSE and NTFS-3G. You can install both with NTFS-3G for Mac OS X.
• To Read/Write from Snow Leopard: Guide: Enable native NTFS Read/Write in Snow Leopard
• (Be aware that some are of the opinion that enabling native NTFS in SL is unstable/unreliable, and favor the MacFuse/NTFS-3G method for Snow Leopard)

HFS

• Read/Write from native Mac OS X
• To Read/Write from Windows, Install MacDrive

Thanks for the quick reply!! However, and I could be wrong, I think you misunderstood. I know those formats can be read. Unfortunately, this server box seems to automatically format every drive to EXT2 or 3 because it runs a variation of linux. If i try to format it from there, it will just format it back.

 

[GGJstudios]

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/862535/

 

[SDub90]

The enclosure connects via ethernet to your network, you connect to the drive via FTP, so its format is irrelevant since it doesn't depend on your OS.