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    Best formatting for external HD for use with MacOS and Windows

    Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved IT Discussion
    macoswindowsfat32ntfshfshfs+file system
    27 Posts 6 Posters 5.5k Views
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    • NicN
      Nic
      last edited by

      Agreed, but if all she needs to do is move a shit ton of stuff between two computers, and doesn't want to buy more than the external drive she already has, then why not?

      If all she needs is some additional storage without additional purchase, just plug the drive into one of the computers and share it over the network from there. Agreed that the convenience of having the storage available over the network probably outweighs the speed issue. But I have just used the sneakernet method when copying my library of movies from one computer to another.

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      • DashrenderD
        Dashrender
        last edited by

        @nic I have to assume you're talking about USB 3 being faster than LAN speeds. My personal tests have shown a NAS on 100 Mb LAN copies much faster than USB 2.0.

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        • NicN
          Nic
          last edited by

          I was assuming wireless, which would get lesser throughput. If on a wired LAN then I agree that would be faster. If it is a USB 3.0 drive how much difference would that make?

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          • DashrenderD
            Dashrender
            last edited by

            Looks like USB 3.0 supports up to 5 Mb, the SATA drives claim 6 Mb, but I'm sure the single drive would be the bottle neck on the USB 3.0 interface.

            I guess I never assume wireless for work networks, at least not for It personal. But maybe that's just me with my blinders on. I avoid wireless for anything more than casual surfing.

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            • RoguePacketR
              RoguePacket @Katie
              last edited by

              @Katie said:

              @scottalanmiller Yes, ad-hoc storage - I have a 1TB hard drive that I want to format in the most efficient way possible for use with both my work machines.

              Big thought is where the Time Machine backup is. Not mandatory, but close. Keep in mind the ability for current OS X versions to have multiple Time Machine mount points (say, one at home and one at the office with each being encrypted as well as the laptop itself).

              Best interfaces for an external drive between the two platforms would be Thunderbolt for OS X and USB3 for Windows 7/8. Partition one for OS X and one for NTFS. Main reason is to be able to encrypt both. Would suck to lose (or "lose") the drive.

              Can get a 2TB rugged drive from LaCie with Thunderbolt & USB3—

              • http://www.lacie.com/products/product.htm?id=10599
              • Yes, seeing the 1TB drive already available

              Macally tends to have Mac friendly enclosures (FW800), but aren't on the cutting edge (Thunderbolt).

              For the OS X NTFS utilities @nic alluded, check—

              • http://www.paragon-software.com/home/ntfs-mac/ ($20, more popular option & works well enough)
              • http://www.tuxera.com/products/tuxera-ntfs-for-mac/ ($31, haven't used)
              • http://osxfuse.github.io/ -and- https://github.com/osxfuse/osxfuse/wiki/NTFS-3G (haven't used)
              • http://www.catacombae.org/hfsx.html (old & haven't used)
              • Good perspective, http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=1386199
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              • NicN
                Nic
                last edited by

                Here you go, another possible solution:
                http://www.geek.com/tablets/toshiba-canvio-adapter-makes-any-external-hard-drive-wireless-1588614/

                scottalanmillerS 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                • RoguePacketR
                  RoguePacket
                  last edited by

                  @nic Wireless hard drives are new-ish and have interesting promise. Have yet to try one.

                  Guess there are those OS X users which rave about their Time Capsule, Apple's own take on it.

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                  • scottalanmillerS
                    scottalanmiller @Nic
                    last edited by

                    @Nic said:

                    Here you go, another possible solution:
                    http://www.geek.com/tablets/toshiba-canvio-adapter-makes-any-external-hard-drive-wireless-1588614/

                    That's a seriously weird device.

                    DashrenderD 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                    • DashrenderD
                      Dashrender @scottalanmiller
                      last edited by

                      @scottalanmiller said:

                      @Nic said:

                      Here you go, another possible solution:
                      http://www.geek.com/tablets/toshiba-canvio-adapter-makes-any-external-hard-drive-wireless-1588614/

                      That's a seriously weird device.

                      Agreed, why not buy an all in one product that has wireless built in? I suppose you could swap out drives, but what are the chances for that?

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                      • NicN
                        Nic
                        last edited by

                        This is on sale if you want NTFS for Mac: https://deals.macupdate.com/deal/15648?utm_source=macupdate&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=paragon

                        KatieK 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                        • KatieK
                          Katie @Nic
                          last edited by

                          @Nic said:

                          This is on sale if you want NTFS for Mac: https://deals.macupdate.com/deal/15648?utm_source=macupdate&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=paragon

                          That actually looks interesting. Thanks, @nic!

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