SSD format for NAS

[Odok]

Hi!
Just bought an OWC envoy that has turned my old MacBook Air SSD into an USB 3 external SSD.

I’m not sure what the best format is for the drive? I’d like to use it both directly as an external drive using USB C & also as a NAS, by plugging it into my QNAP when I’m at home.

What will be fast & reliable for a Mac external SSD, and also readable for my QNAP? NSTC? ExFAT? AFPS?

Would love your tips!

 

[hobowankenobi]

Depends on the NAS, but most are some flavor of Linux. Can vary, but I would guess ExFAT would be the most universal.

Synology boxes can, last I checked, mount/read/write a Mac (HFS+) external....but that may be a specific feature. Again, will likely vary by OS. Don't know if QNAP offers this.

APFS is most likely the least compatible file system out there right now.

I expect ExFAT will not be the fastest or most reliable; native file systems are typically optimized with the corresponding OS, so it is to be expected that compatibility comes at the cost of some performance.