Ubuntu
util-linux package

External Hard Drive

Asked by Yasser Ismail

I am shopping for an external hard drive to back up my data from Ubuntu 10.4 so I can replace my internal hard drive. I need some help in choosing the right external hard drive that I can share between 2 computers one uses Ubuntu and the other is Mac.

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delance
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marcus aurelius (adbiz) said : 		#1

how is this related to ubuntu?

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delance (olivier-delance) said : 		#2

Even if manufacturer sell "Windows " or "Mac" hard drives, there are in fact the same hardware. Those disks are simply logically formated to be immediately usable from Windows or Mac. For example, if you buy the same disk in Windows version and you format it in Mac file system format, it the same thing than buying a Mac disk. The only difference will be a little more effort from you and a little less money in pocket of seller.

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Yasser Ismail (yasseradly) said : 		#3

@ Delance: so you suggest that it doesn't make a difference, what brand it is, because I called Seagate and the tech support said that their external hard drive doesn't support anything either than Mac or Windows.

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Best delance (olivier-delance) said : 		#4

If you only talk about hardware, yes, it make no differences.
All disks use the same protocol (SATA, and sometimes SCSI) to access disk blocks.
Some disks come with backup software, which run only with Windows.
Usually, people working in call center use pre-written process, written by some system engineer. And as such papers don't talk about Mac or Linux, they can't answer, so they prefer answering this works only with Windows.
Some time ago, Internet providers answered Linux was not supported. Same problem.

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Yasser Ismail (yasseradly) said : 		#5

Thanks delance, that solved my question.