When I try format my external drives (WD 4TB via USB3) my options are: EXT4 EXT3 FAT32 I run all Mac Equipment on my home system. EXT4 and EXT3, I am not sure if those file systems can be read by my Mac computers. FAT32, although might be a common denominator in terms of compatibility between Mac and Windows computers, have a maximum file size limit of 4GB means it can not accommodate larger video files and disk images, etc.
So, IMHO, FAT32 sucks. Ideally, I would like to see support for the following file systems as well:. exFAT (handle files greater then 4GB limits) and compatbility with Mac, Windows and even SDXC cards used in current generation digital cameras. NTFS (can be used in both Windows and Mac (with 3rd party utility to read/write to NTFS partitions). HPFS (native support in Mac. Don't care if Windows can deal with it or not, but via a VM of Windows on a Mac and sharing the Mac volumes, even there, Windows can access Mac HPFS volumes.).
So, can we expect support in a subsequent update of DSM for these 3 file systems IN ADDITION to what is already offered? HPFS I am considering a 4-bay solution going forward. So, whether this support will be provided or not I need to consider for myself as well. The idea here is, should I want to eject the external drive from the USB3 port on DS device, and want to connect it to a USB3 port on one of my Macs for direct data access, will I be able to do that? Thanks, Jerry Tokyo, Japan Synology Model Number: DS213 Synology DS213 SN: C7L5N07483 Firmware Version Number: HDD Model Number: WD30EZRX (3.0TB) Number of HDDs: 2 RAID Type: 0 (Striping) Network Bandwidth/MTU: 200Mbps FTTH Services enabled: Hibernation time: External Devices: WD 4TB (My Book) External Connection: USB3 Home Network: MacMini 2012, Macbook Air 2011, Macbook Pro Retina 2012, iOS/Android devices. Hi Mike: Thanks for the message and also the heads up on NTFS. ' The system supports read and write functions on NTFS formatted external HDD.
(Read-only on DS109j, DS108j, DS107 and DS107e) ' Well, this is good news to some extent, and I have the DS213. It means that one is not entirely hamstrung by having to use EXT for resolution to file size, nor have to be restricted on file size as a result of using FAT32. But it does mean the drive will need to be NTFS-formatted elsewhere prior to externally connecting to the DS213, if my understanding is correct. It would be nice if Synology made it just as simple as they do for EXT and FAT32.
Thanks again for the heads up. Jerry Tokyo, Japan Synology Model Number: DS213 Synology DS213 SN: C7L5N07483 Firmware Version Number: HDD Model Number: WD30EZRX (3.0TB) Number of HDDs: 2 RAID Type: 0 (Striping) Network Bandwidth/MTU: 200Mbps FTTH Services enabled: Hibernation time: External Devices: WD 4TB (My Book) External Connection: USB3 Home Network: MacMini 2012, Macbook Air 2011, Macbook Pro Retina 2012, iOS/Android devices.
Synology Nas Manual
Maxxfi wrote:Note that there is a performance penalty in writing to NTFS. So depending on the usage of the USB disk (i.e. If it's primarily used connected to the Synology to read/write data and only occasionally moved to Mac or the other way round) it may be worth to investigate if there is a EXT filesystem driver for Mac.
Just for the sake of being informed, I am curious why there would be a performance penalty in writing to NTFS. Yes, the move would be only occasionally I imagine.
I am thinking It would be more for reasons of compatibility in terms of being able to hook up the back up unit (externally USB3-connected dual drive box) to a Mac on occasion if the need/desire arose to do so. Yes, there apparently seems to be other solutions to the using EXT volumes directly on the Mac. This posted to me in a separate thread 'I Need Your Opinion for Using a DS213' (which, I have the same box) this information was provided me: QUOTE First hit on google gives me this which tells me there is a product for OS X that can read write EXT2/3/4 filesystems. Read about the driver here:. More interesting stuff about this driver I see that Linux can read/write HFS+, as well as Windows I think. This info should give you some hints at least.