Which filesystem is best for archiving purposes?

[Grasshopper]

This is (sort of) a follow up to my thread about using DVDs for archiving.

http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php?topic=76746.0

I’ve just bought a 750gb hard disk and fitted it inside an external enclosure (esata + usb2). I might set up a few small bootable partitions for emergencies but most of the disk will be filled with a single large partition where I will store my backups (I’m using DVDs as well).

My dilemma is what file system to use. I mostly use XP, and occasionally dabble with Linux. However, I’m a huge Linux fan, and that position could easily be reversed over the next couple of years is M$ doesn’t drastically raise it’s game. So it’s vital that I can access my data from either Linux or Windows (any variant). Access from other OSes would also be a bonus.

In the past I’ve used FAT16 for this purpose and then switched to FAT32 when FAT16 became impractical. However, FAT32 is also starting to creak a bit now, and the 4gb per file limit in particular could be a bit of an issue for videos.

So I’m thinking it has to be either NTFS or Ext2. But I’m not sure which. Can anyone here offer any advice on this? I understand that Linux is now able to read and write to NTFS partitions, but that the driver is still classed as experimental. I also know that Ext2 drivers exist for Windows but have no experience of them. So the question is, which is best out of the Windows and the Linux drivers?

Also, are there any theoretical reasons why Ext2 is superior to NTFS or vice versa? What about other Linux filesystems such as Ext3, ReiserFS etc?

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks.

[Space Fractal]

Fat32 is only that one, that can fully read by both OS. I do seen NTFS driver is now final and is out of beta status. Even major distros began to include that driver now. So I asume they finally tested and diddent have any problems.

Otherwice you can get a NAS machine and use the backup on that. Many of them is typical Linux based and hence typically Ext2 is used. But since they are network harddrives, they should been accesable trhough network by both Linux and Windows.

You can even look OS like FreeNAS or such (based on FreeBSD which use its own filesystem), if you want a dedecated machine and then use external USB2 harddrives as backups.

[Grasshopper]

Thanks for your reply.

I did consider a NAS box. However, I quickly rejected the idea because, at present, they don't appear to offer good value for money. For about the same price you could buy/build a barebones PC and make your own. That's a definite possibility for the future (I've got loads of old PC components lying around) but for the time being I'm sticking with USB and E-Sata.

Also, a NAS enclosure would presumably be slower than E-sata. Performance isn't really an issue for me, but there's no sense in slowing things down unnecessarily.

[Blanka]

NAS is way cheaper than a barebone. For 70$ + the price of a USB2 external you have a 100mbit NAS (NSLU2 for example) and for 120-150$+ the price of an USB2 drive you have a gigabit NAS with Apache/PHP/MySQL/iTunesserver/Torrent client and much more (a Synology Diskstation for example). The later is very versatile. It downloads your torrents while the computer is down, it runs your website, a music/movie server and much more. Biggest saving compared to a barebone is the electricitybill. A NAS uses around 20 watts, compared to 100-200w of a barebone.

[Grasshopper]

NAS is way cheaper than a barebone. For 70$ + the price of a USB2 external you have a 100mbit NAS ...

Hmm, I must be looking in the wrong places. I haven't seen one for anywhere near that price.

Mind you, I've only really looked at the ones where you add your own drive. Maybe the all-in-one units are a bit cheaper but personally I like the flexibility of being able to add my own drive. And there is also the small matter of me already having bought a drive.

[Blanka]

2 things: I converted Euro to Dollar 1:1 as Apple does that always, but on other products it is little different though.
Here the NSLU2:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0001FSCZO?ie=UTF8&tag=inforbanki-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B0001FSCZO
82 dollars, and you can add up to 2 generic external USB2 drives, even in RAID if you like.
The synology comes as barebone or with a drive, but lets you open it with ease to swap it for another SATA one.
Here a 500Gb WD NAS with gigabit for 160$
http://shopper.cnet.com/external-hard-drives/western-digital-mybook-world/4014-3190_9-32401221.html#p5

[patrickl]

NAS is way cheaper than a barebone. For 70$ + the price of a USB2 external you have a 100mbit NAS ...

Hmm, I must be looking in the wrong places. I haven't seen one for anywhere near that price.

Mind you, I've only really looked at the ones where you add your own drive. Maybe the all-in-one units are a bit cheaper but personally I like the flexibility of being able to add my own drive. And there is also the small matter of me already having bought a drive.

The device Blanka is referring to is more like a USB network converter. It allows the use of USB drive enclosures/memory sticks on a network. So you would simply hook up the enclosure and drive that you already purchased to this device and connect the whole thing to your network.

[Space Fractal]

If you have old components and support more than 136GB, you can just use these applications on a normal PC to and let them do the same thing. All it need to eiter boot from the CD drive or use a USB to store the OS.

FreeNAS example should been able to fit all the space, regaardless if the BIOS can store more than that.

[patrickl]

BTW don't forget the cost of electricity if you are planning on running an old computer as a NAS. You'll be surprised how much running a computer 24/7 costs.

[lanman31337]

i've been contemplating grabbign a single core processor, one of the 45 watt ones, no cd drive, 2 gigs of ram and a wireless card, xp, and hiding it in the house as network storage.

[boykster]

If you're swapping back and forth with a USB drive, then fat32 is your best bet for compatibility and speed.  Yep, the 4gb file limit will be limiting if you get into bluray rips into mkv containers (or other format).  I've tried the new ntfs driver for linux (ntfs-3g) and it is DARN slow at writes - at least on my FC8 machine.  I don't think I have the lastest version of the driver, but for me it was just too darn slow.

I currently am using XFS as the filesystem on my new linux array machine.  So far, I'm very happy with it. 

[SavannahLion]

i've been contemplating grabbign a single core processor, one of the 45 watt ones, no cd drive, 2 gigs of ram and a wireless card, xp, and hiding it in the house as network storage.

Skip that wireless card and go wired instead. I configured a shared network drive on one of the bigger PC's and the network performance hit between it and the laptop is stunning. Running wired<->router<->wireless seems to be the best compromise in that regards. Save the wireless for your laptop and give the wires to permanent network fixtures.

[Grasshopper]

2 things: I converted Euro to Dollar 1:1 as Apple does that always, but on other products it is little different though.
Here the NSLU2:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0001FSCZO?ie=UTF8&tag=inforbanki-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B0001FSCZO
82 dollars, and you can add up to 2 generic external USB2 drives, even in RAID if you like.
The synology comes as barebone or with a drive, but lets you open it with ease to swap it for another SATA one.
Here a 500Gb WD NAS with gigabit for 160$
http://shopper.cnet.com/external-hard-drives/western-digital-mybook-world/4014-3190_9-32401221.html#p5

I should point out that I’m in the UK. So that further complicates currency conversions.

The Amazon UK price for the Linksys NSLU2 is £58.94. To put that into some kind of perspective, I paid £59.95 for the drive and £12.99 for the usb/esata enclosure.

 http://www.ebuyer.com/product/139739

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/143544

Interestingly, the NSLU2 appears to recognise ext2, FAT32 and NTFS partitions (once you upgrade the firmware) which is very cool indeed. It's definitely a possible option for the future. However, I won't be buying one for the time being as it would add significantly to my costs.

[ark_ader]

Get a cheap USB laptop and put NT4 Server on it.  Thinkpad 560x is perfect.

Use NTFS as the file system and put two drives in as a volume.

Back it up with DVD.

You can do it all for under £200.   

Don't go NAS or you will be sorry.  I did and lost the lot.   

Better to go with what you know.