Op onal Forma ng and Par oning
LaCie Rugged RAID Shuttle is delivered formatted in exFAT for compatibility with both Windows and Mac
computers. If you use Rugged RAID Shuttle with only one type of computer, you can optimize file copy
performance by formatting the drive in the native file system for your operating system—NTFS for Windows
or HFS+ for Macs. There are two ways you can optimize performance:
Toolkit Optimize
Format your drive for optimal performance with just a few simple clicks.
Manual formatting
Use Disk Management (Windows) or Disk Utility (Mac) to format your drive in non-
native formats.
About file system formats
NTFS—The native file system for Windows. macOS can read NTFS volumes but cannot natively write to
them.
Mac OS Extended (HFS+)—The native hard drive file system for macOS. Windows cannot natively read or
write to HFS+ (journaled) volumes. This is the best format if you intend to use LaCie Rugged RAID Shuttle
with Time Machine.
APFS (Apple File System)—An Apple file system optimized for solid state drives (SSDs) and flash-based
storage systems. While you can format your hard disk drive (HDD) in APFS, performance may be degraded
when files on the drive are routinely subjected to extensive editing (for example, large-scale image, video,
audio, and music editing). Note the following restrictions:
You cannot use an APFS-formatted disk as your Time Machine backup drive. Format Rugged RAID Shuttle
to HFS+ if you intend to use it with Time Machine.
APFS is only supported on macOS 10.13 or later.
exFAT—Compatible with Mac and Windows. exFAT is not a journaled file system which means it can be
more susceptible to data corruption when errors occur or the drive is not disconnected properly from the
computer.
Formatting erases everything on the storage device.
LaCie strongly recommends that you back
up all data on your storage device before performing the steps below. LaCie is not responsible
for any data lost due to formatting, partitioning, or using a LaCie storage device.
22
LaCie Rugged RAID Shuttle
9/9/19
