External storage for Linux/Windows: Samba or USB 2.0 attached Hard Drive?
 

I use Samba for a backup and storage solution for my Windows XP installation and my Red Hat installation. The Windows XP installation gets the most use out of the Samba installation, but I insist on making preparation for Linux installations as well. I made an attempt to apply a NAS storage solution (Tritton) and was rather severly disappointed by the lack of transfer rate performance and the file size limitation. My Samba installation outperforms the Tritton NAS, even on an old 400 Mhz machine.

I am considering a USB 2.0 or Firewire attached Hard Drive as an alternative or replacement with the hope that transfer rate would be superior and there would be no file size limitation. I want to be able to use it to back up both Linux and Windows. It would have to be able to store Linux and Windows files on the same drive. Rather obviously, it would have to be able to support Linux and this is where I am most unsure. At all the online sales I have seen, only Windows and Macintosh seem to be supported. Is Linux supported by default?

I ran a search of the subject here,

Thread Results (hard drive US .0 external)

I was amazed at the number of inquiries regarding booting from a similar setup. This would not be a prerequisite, but I would be interested in that too.

Any and all tips and clues would be appreciated. Links to previous posts would also be great.

Certainly you have answered your question by now, but I think as long as the HDD is Fat32, it is read/writable by both OSes.