[RndTbl] External hard drives for Linux

[Mike Pfaiffer]

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