LaCie 4big Quadra Enterprise Class
• D
esign
by
n
eil
P
oulton
RAID
User Manual
page 20
3.4. Formatting and Partitioning
The 4big Quadra comes pre-formatted in HFS+ (optimized for Mac
OS X). Please read the following information on file system formats
for Windows and Mac operating systems to determine if you need to
reformat the 4big’s disks. See sections
3.4.2
and
3.4.3
for format-
ting instructions.
3.4.1. File System Formats
Windows Users
TECHNICAL NOTE:
The LaCie 4big Quadra comes preformatted
in HFS+ for optimum performance with Mac OS X.
TECHNICAL NOTE:
Windows XP 32-bit does not support volumes
greater than 2TB. Windows XP x64, Windows Vista (32- and 64-bit
versions), and Windows 7 (32- and 64-bit versions) do, but in order
to create volumes bigger than 2TB from these operating systems, you
must convert the disk to GPT file system. This process is outlined in
3.4.2
.
FAT 32
: FAT is an acronym for File Allocation Table, which dates back
to the beginnings of DOS programming. Originally, FAT was only 16
bits, but after the second release of Windows 95 it was upgraded to 32
bits, hence the name FAT 32. In theory, FAT 32 volume sizes can range
from less than 1MB all the way to 2TB. It is the native file system of Win-
dows 98 and Windows Me, and is supported by Windows 2000, Win-
dows XP, Windows Vista, and Windows 7. When FAT 32 is used with
Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Vista, and Windows 7 though,
volume size is limited to 32GB (by the Windows partition utility, i.e. Disk
Manager), and the individual file size is limited to 4GB.
NTFS:
This acronym stands for New Technology Filing System, and
it is the native file system for Windows NT, Windows 2000, Windows
XP, Windows Vista, and Windows 7. NTFS offers several features
that are not available with FAT 32; i.e. file compression, encryption,
permissions, and auditing, as well as the ability to mirror drives and
RAID 5 capabilities. The minimum supported volume size for NTFS
is 10MB, with a maximum of 2TB when initialized in MBR format
or without a limit when initialized in GPT format, with no limit to
file size. Volumes created in NTFS can only be directly accessed
(not through shares) by Windows NT, Windows 2000, Windows XP,
Windows Vista, and Windows 7 without resorting to help from third-
party products.
Windows File System Formats
There are two possible file system format categories for Win-
dows users: NTFS and FAT 32 (MS-DOS). See the table be-
low for more information.
Use NTFS if:
...you will be using the drive only with Windows XP, Windows
Vista, and Windows 7 (performance will generally be greater
when compared to FAT 32). This file system is compatible in
read only mode with Mac OS 10.3 and higher.
Use FAT32 if:
...you will be using your drive with both Windows and Mac
OS 9.x or 10.x. Maximum single file size is 4GB.
