Windows-Mac-Linux Compatible Filesystem For 3To External Drive

Question

[Eric Normandeau]

(PRELUDE: One of the nightmares I face too often is the varying standards among the 3 top operating systems, for just about anything.)

For a collaboration with another group, we have bought a 3To external drive to store and maybe share sequencing data.

I would like to know what filesystem type (eg: ntfs, ext4, macosx journaled...) you would recommend for best operating system inter-operability.

Ideally, I would like for it to work (be able to mount, read AND WRITE on it) on the 3 OSes, but I am willing to drop Windows compatibility if needed and the most important OS is Linux since most likely the analyses will be done with this system. I also would prefer a filesystem type that works out of the box on the systems without having to install dedicated software.

I know there are a lot of MacOS users here. What do you use? Would ntfs work well?

EDIT: I ended up using the ntfs filesystem with a msdos partition table. No software was needed to mount the disk on any of the operating systems.

[DoubleD]

when going between systems I use NTFS. Mounts with Tuxera on a Mac, ntfs-3g on Linux

[Eric Normandeau]

Hi DoubleD. Ntfs worked fine, I did not need any special software to mount on Linux or Mac. Do you want to add your comment as an answer instead so that I can give you the correct answer? Thanks

[Eric Normandeau]

I guess you use an msdos partition table?

[Ryan Thompson]

I don't think any modern operating system very much cares what kind of partition table you use anymore.

Answer 1

[Zev.Kronenberg]

have a look at "Supporting operating systems" on wiki:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_file_systems

based on the table fat32 looks to be pretty safe...

[Eric Normandeau]

Indeed, but the maximum file and volume sizes (4Gb and 2Tb) are not sufficient and fat32+ is not an out-of-the-box solution.