I'm thinking of buying an external USB hard drive for my Linux desktop. I'm concerned that these USB drives might be non-generic, somehow dependent on XP/Vesta or have fixed file systems ( NTFS or FAT36 ) or just slow. Are any of the above an issue, or do they do a reasonable job. I just want to use one for storage, not to run an OS on. Best Buy has a SimpleTech 1 TB for $150. Future Shop has Comstar One-touch 1 TB for $150. I don't think my BIOS can handle 1 TB drives but for that price I'm temped anyway. Any information would be most appreciated.
schwartz wrote:
I'm thinking of buying an external USB hard drive for my Linux desktop. I'm concerned that these USB drives might be non-generic, somehow dependent
I do not think this is an issue. I would think the USB Mass Storage standard is not OS or file system dependent. I am using EXT3 on my external USB drive.
I don't think my BIOS can handle 1 TB drives but for that price I'm temped anyway.
Unless you were going to boot from it your BIOS should not be involved.
-- Bill
On Tue, 2009-03-03 at 10:26 -0600, schwartz wrote:
I'm thinking of buying an external USB hard drive for my Linux desktop. I'm concerned that these USB drives might be non-generic, somehow dependent on XP/Vesta or have fixed file systems ( NTFS or FAT36 ) or just slow. Are any of the above an issue, or do they do a reasonable job.
They are not OS specific. Some of them may come pre-formatted (must USB keys do) but you can easily reformat it. Keeping that in mind, if you intend to move it between a Windows machine and a Linux machine you should stick to a file system the Windows OS understands.
I just want to use one for storage, not to run an OS on.
Best Buy has a SimpleTech 1 TB for $150.
Future Shop has Comstar One-touch 1 TB for $150.
Storage is so cheap now is ridiculous. Mind you I'd be interested to know how reliable they are.
Regards,
John Lange
On 2009-03-03 10:02, John Lange wrote:
On Tue, 2009-03-03 at 10:26 -0600, schwartz wrote:
I'm thinking of buying an external USB hard drive for my Linux desktop. I'm concerned that these USB drives might be non-generic, somehow dependent on XP/Vesta or have fixed file systems ( NTFS or FAT36 ) or just slow. Are any of the above an issue, or do they do a reasonable job.
They are not OS specific. Some of them may come pre-formatted (must USB keys do) but you can easily reformat it. Keeping that in mind, if you intend to move it between a Windows machine and a Linux machine you should stick to a file system the Windows OS understands.
I've used external drives on Linux systems, using either USB or FireWire interfaces, and have had no trouble with using them as FAT32, NTFS, or reformatted as ext3. It all depends on what you plan on using it for, and where else you might connect it. (Just as John suggested above.)
I just want to use one for storage, not to run an OS on.
Also, as Bill mentioned, the BIOS is not an issue if you're not going to boot from it or use it with an OS that needs BIOS support for I/O. (Linux doesn't.)
Best Buy has a SimpleTech 1 TB for $150.
Future Shop has Comstar One-touch 1 TB for $150.
Storage is so cheap now is ridiculous. Mind you I'd be interested to know how reliable they are.
I've found that not only reliability can vary a lot, but performance too. So, you might want to check online first to get good technical specs., reviews, etc., before you buy.
In particular with USB interfaces on these external drives, even if they're USB 2.0 rated, it doesn't mean you can get the maximum throughput that USB 2.0 would allow. Some of them are quite a bit slower than that. If you'll be transferring a lot of data, look for a drive that has good I/O performance. (I'm not familiar with either of the two you mention above, nor really any of the current crop of 1TB external drives, so I can't offer specific recommendations.)
schwartz wrote:
I'm thinking of buying an external USB hard drive for my Linux desktop. I'm concerned that these USB drives might be non-generic, somehow dependent on XP/Vesta or have fixed file systems ( NTFS or FAT36 ) or just slow. Are any of the above an issue, or do they do a reasonable job. I just want to use one for storage, not to run an OS on. Best Buy has a SimpleTech 1 TB for $150. Future Shop has Comstar One-touch 1 TB for $150. I don't think my BIOS can handle 1 TB drives but for that price I'm temped anyway. Any information would be most appreciated.
I'm going to agree with the others at this point. I have two external drives. One on the PC (formatted with three partitions) and one on the Mac. The older one has held up for at least two and a half years with no problems. It takes at most 20 minutes to set up a blank unit.
There is additional information in addition to my saying "Me too". I went out and picked up the box separate from the drive. The box is around $50 depending on what type of drive you're planning to put in it and where you pick it up. It may have dropped in price since I last picked one up. This approach has the advantage of being able to put in a stable drive.
So at this point one has to ask the questions... What drives are stable at the moment? How are the current larger capacity drives (> 1TB)? If the drive is to sit at home... Would a NAS setup suit you better?
Later Mike
The only compatibility issues I've come across is with some external drives of the NAS (network attached storage) flavor. I've come across some that require a Windows client to be installed in order to access the drive through the network.
But I think most external USB drive enclosures conform to know platform-independent standards now days.
Buying hardware for Linux from a vendor that allows you to return it is always a good idea. :)
-Montana My Google Reader Shared Items: http://tinyurl.com/montanashare My Netvibes page: http://www.netvibes.com/antikx#About_Montana
On Tue, Mar 3, 2009 at 10:26 AM, schwartz millward@ms.umanitoba.ca wrote:
I'm thinking of buying an external USB hard drive for my Linux desktop. I'm concerned that these USB drives might be non-generic, somehow dependent on XP/Vesta or have fixed file systems ( NTFS or FAT36 ) or just slow. Are any of the above an issue, or do they do a reasonable job. I just want to use one for storage, not to run an OS on. Best Buy has a SimpleTech 1 TB for $150. Future Shop has Comstar One-touch 1 TB for $150. I don't think my BIOS can handle 1 TB drives but for that price I'm temped anyway. Any information would be most appreciated.
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schwartz