Best File System for Large Drives and Multiple Operating Systems.

Gonzee · 06-09-2009, 03:44 AM

I am looking to find the best file system for large drives and multiple OS's.
I need to access the drives from Linux, OS X and Windows.
In the beginning, FAT 32 was the only choice, but it only supports drives (or partitions) up to 32GB.
All the drives I need to access are at least 1TB.
What is the best interoperable FS?
Thank you for your time and energy in answering.
-Morgon

syg00 · 06-09-2009, 03:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gonzee

... FAT 32 was the only choice, but it only supports drives (or partitions) up to 32GB.

Not true - don't ascribe Windoze limitations to everyone.
Allocate them from Linux (OSX ? - dunno never used it). Not that I'd recommend it - it ain't too efficient.
NTFS ?. If you have Windoze in the mix, you can always repair it. Again, I don't know the OX support level. You can get IFSs for ext3, but I had some bad experiences some time back, and never trusted them since.

Gonzee · 06-09-2009, 04:08 AM

So NTFS is the best option for all three OS's ?
Yes OS X will read it, but will only write it with third party drivers. Linux does it native?
I guess I don't mind installing third party drivers for the other OS's, but I was assuming that there was something native. Crazy.
Thanks so much for the reply.
-Morgon

i92guboj · 06-09-2009, 05:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gonzee

I am looking to find the best file system for large drives and multiple OS's.
I need to access the drives from Linux, OS X and Windows.
In the beginning, FAT 32 was the only choice, but it only supports drives (or partitions) up to 32GB.

Up to 2TB really. I have no idea what the limitations of Windows are right now but fat32 itself can grow up to 2TB.

I wouldn't use it anyway. I'd rather try to find a suitable solution to write ext3 or ntfs in all the three oses. The linux native nfts is ok only for read, not write operations. However, ntfs3g will work ok for both purposes. I have no idea about macosx.