external hard drive, MAC + PC

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external hard drive, MAC + PC

I'm trying to find an external hard drive that both my wife and I can use. I have an iBook G4, she's got a Dell laptop running Windows XP. We'll be using this mostly as back-up/extra storage.

So my questions:

1) Is there any real need to partition the external HD, since we'll just be copying files onto and off it (and not running programs)?

2) Any potential problems that we might run into here? I've heard that we should format the external HD to run FAT32, and I (the mac user) will have limitations on the size of files that I can copy onto the HD. Anything else?

3) Any recommendations for HD brands that interface nicely (ie. plug and play) with both PC (USB 2.0) and Mac (Firewire 400)?

-DS

iBook G4 Mac OS X (10.3.9) 1.2 GHz, 256 MD RAM

Posted on May 26, 2006 11:31 AM

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Answer 1

Best reply

--JB--

Level 5

4,067 points

May 26, 2006 1:20 PM in response to shiau_d

Hi Shiau_d,

Welcome to Apple Discussions

I wish I was a volume format expert, but I am not (sadly). I think I may be able to answer your questions, or lead you to the answers.

1 - No. If it is just for files, I don't think you really would have a problem. You may want to look at MarkDouma®'s User Tip Saving to non-HFS+disks from OS X & OS 9. It is somewhat old, but I think you will find it useful.

2 - FAT32 does not work as well as HFS+ with Macs. FAT32 fragments easier then a hard drive that is formatted in HFS+. HFS+ enables Journalling and Hot File Adaptive Clustering.

Developer Connection Document on HFS+ Volume Format says,

"Most files on a disk are rarely, if ever, accessed. Most frequently accessed (hot) files are small. To improve performance of these small, frequently access files, they are moved near the volume's metadata, into the metadata zone. This reduces seek times for most accesses. As files are moved into the metadata zone, they are also defragmented (allocated in a single extent), which further improves performance. This process is known as adaptive hot file clustering.
The relative importance of a frequently used (hot) file is called its temperature. Files with the hottest (largest) temperatures are the ones actually moved into the metadata zone. In Mac OS X version 10.3, a file's temperature is computed as the number of bytes read from the file during the recording period divided by the file's size in bytes. This is a measure of how often the file is read."

You may want to look at Wikipedia: File System Comparison

The maximum file size for HFS+ is 8Gb, where FAT32 is only 4Gb.

3 - I suggest anything from LaCie, SmartDisk, or Western Digital

I recommend the LaCie D2 Hard Drive Extreme w/ Triple Interface, SmartDisk CrossFire, or the WD Dual Option.

I use a SmartDisk CrossFire for both my iTunes library as well as my iPhoto library. If you need help moving your iTunes library you might want to look at Knowledge Base Document #301748 explains How to Move Your iTunes Library.

You can make a HFS+/FAT32 formatted hard drive; look here.

Jon

PS I don't know a lot about file systems; I hope that helped.

Macbook 2.0 White (100Gb HD 2Gb RAM) Mac Mini 1.42Ghz, iPod (All) , Airport (Graphite & Express), G4 1.33Ghz iBook , G4 iMac 1Ghz, G3 500Mhz, iBook iMac 233Mhz, eMate, Power Mac 5400 LC, PowerBook 540c, Macintosh 128K, Apple //e, Apple //, and some more... Mac OS X (10.4.5) Moto Razr, iLife '06, SmartDisk 160Gb, Apple BT Mouse, Sight..

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Answer 2

shiau_d Author

Level 1

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May 26, 2006 2:48 PM in response to --JB--

Thanks for the helpful resources!!

Two more questions...

1) Regarding FAT32 v. HFS+

2 - FAT32 does not work as well as HFS+
with Macs. FAT32 fragments easier then a hard drive
that is formatted in HFS+. HFS+ enables Journalling and Hot File Adaptive
Clustering.

Can a PC running Windows XP interface with HFS+?

2) About this file size limitation:

The maximum file size for HFS+ is 8Gb, where FAT32 is
only 4Gb.

Does this limitation include folders? For example if I have a folder with a total of say 12Gb worth of data in it, will I just have to copy over 4Gb worth of sub-folders at a time (for FAT32... 8Gb at a time fo HFS+)? Or is this limitation only for single files (eg. one long, high-res video clip greater than 4 or 8Gb)?

-DS

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Answer 3

Wade Peeler

Level 6

10,906 points

May 26, 2006 4:49 PM in response to shiau_d

1) Can a PC running Windows XP interface with HFS+?

Both Windows and OS X can read/write FAT formatted disks. Windows cannot read HFS formatted disks without buying additional software.

2) Does this limitation include folders?

The limitation is for the size of a single file (4GB).
The max size of any FAT32 volume is 2TB
The max filename length is 255 characters.
The max number of files ona volume is about 270 million.

The max file size on HFS+ is 16EB
The max size of an HFS+ volume is 16EB
The max filename size is 255 characters
There is no max limit on the number of files on a volume.

(there is conflicting information on wikipedia about HFS+; another article lists limits of 8EB instead of 16EB for both of the above)

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Answer 4

shiau_d Author

Level 1

0 points

May 26, 2006 7:33 PM in response to shiau_d

Thanks JB and Wade! You guys rock!

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