I have many NTFS formatted disks the data within which I would like to host on a linux server. I suppose I could copy the material over onto ext2/ext3 formatted disks, but the following issues prompt me to seek an alternative: (a) I expect to routinely receive many such disks, (b) data integrity during copying, (c) need for additional additional disks, (d) disk copy labor/time.

The alternative I can think of is to simply mount the NTFS disks under Linux and host the material. The question is whether this is a reliable (& efficient) mode of operation, especially since it will be a 24x7 operation?

Would also appreciate any suggestions as to how to host a plethora of NTFS formatted disks using a linux OS.

Thanks...

This is easy..........

Install the rpmforge-release package as directed here: http://dag.wieers.com/rpm/FAQ.php#B

When done type something like: yum install fuse-ntfs-3g

You may want to edit your /etc/fstab file and add the NTFS partitions, examples below;

/dev/sda1 /media/Windows ntfs-3g auto,users,uid=0,gid=500,umask=000,rw 0 0
/dev/sda5 /media/Data ntfs-3g auto,users,uid=0,gid=500,umask=000,rw 0 0

Of course you do want to create the mountpoint(s) before using the NTFS partitions, as root type: mkdir /media/Windows /media/Data

Then you can mount the NTFS partitions by typing:
mount /dev/sda1
mount /dev/sda5

Please adjust everything to match your actual hardware and needs ( use /dev/hda instead of /dev/sda for example).

Thanks Lenard. The testimonials suggest very reliable operations, presumably it is stable under a 24x7 operations too, and benchmarks suggest reliable large files handling...

Naively, if the server is 64-bit and the NTFS disks were written using 32-bit Win XP, could it turn out to be an issue?

Would you be able to read only through the network. I am intrested in doing the same thing, but would like to have write access for the ntfs network shared drive.

Not a problem

[quote]
Would you be able to read only through the network. I am intrested in doing the same thing, but would like to have write access for the ntfs network shared drive.
[quote]

Also not a problem, depending if you using samba (cifs mounted) or ntfs-3g mounted it is just a matter of permissions.

Thanks Lenard. Appreciate it.

thank you from me as well. One more thing though, I have now setup samba and ntfs-3g on ubuntu so it will share my ntfs drive. I can now write to it remotely and locally from the linux box. I would like to know if this is safe, cause i know linux and ntfs have an issues in the past when it came to writing.

Noboby has reported any issues writing to an NTFS partition when correctly mounted via samba or ntfs-3g.

that is good news. thank you for your help