[ Date Index ] [ Thread Index ] [ <= Previous by date / thread ] [ Next by date / thread => ]
On 19/12/10 21:09, kevin wrote: > I feel a backup disk should be universal should you have no Pc running. > So a format to suit Mac Windoze or Linux is the Ideal > So leaving it as Fat32 should do unless you also want security. I've pondered the same question occasionally. I tend to use ext3 or reiserfs for backup volumes. Whilst universality is nice, FAT32 has no security, so you can't use tools like "rsync" or "cp" (since you lose information - permissions). You could opt to use tools like "tar"/"cpio" to preserve permission information but FAT32 has a 4GB-1 file size limit, so that wouldn't fly for many people these days. As such I think you want a file system that reflects the properties of the file systems you are backing up as closely as possible. So if you might have lots of small files, something like Reiserfs with tail packing. If you have lots of big files (or use tar or similar- even MS Backup pretends to write to tape), ensure you have the same large file support (or better if needed!). If you use ACLs ensure these are preserved. The trouble with the so called "lowest common denominator" (which my friend has argued in the analogy with maths would be better called the "highest common factor"), is that you are picking it for working everywhere, not picking it to do the job needed. -- The Mailing List for the Devon & Cornwall LUG http://mailman.dclug.org.uk/listinfo/list FAQ: http://www.dcglug.org.uk/listfaq