Dumb question #9999

[BDD888]

It's been decades since I've had to buy a hard drive. I'm thinking of buying a DROBO for my new iMac so I need to buy at least 1 drive to start. Probably some 2TB 7200 rpm 3.5" drive. Do hard drives come formatted today?

I ask because I own an iMac (no drive bays) so there is no way for me to format the 3.5" drive to use in the DROBO I might buy. I'm hoping I can buy a hard drive, pop it into one of the bays, and use it immediately.

I like the DROBO not just because you can swap drives. Or t hat it can hold 4 or more HD. But also because they don't force you to use their proprietary software to run a DROBO. Like most other external drive manufacturers (e.g. WD, Seagate...).

DROBO question...How does a DROBO know if you're hooking it up to a PC or Mac? DROBO website says no configurations or setup required. Just plug-and-play.

 

[Emulex]

drobo is a raid unit. you use at least 2 drives. it's kinda dumb to use one drive on a drobo otherwise get a external hard drive for $100~ instead.
drobo can hookup using many protocols iscsi, direct connect, and SMB - you need to pick the unit that is best for you. If you share the unit with others over wired ethernet the DROBO with ISCSI is a great choice (separate files). If you share files with pc and mac users at the same time between each other the DROBOFS is a better choice. The direct connect model would just be like any other drive.


but for real if you are dropping that kind of dough i would suggest getting 2 drives to start man.

not a dumb question. i sell these things all the time. Drobo is very mac friendly since apple told drobo how to build their box. It's really easy to use.

They are not cheap however!

btw, Disk utility in your apps/utilities folder can format anything. In the case of the DROBOFS you do not need to format since its a ext4'ish already.

DroboFS doesn't care if its mac or pc. DROBO direct connect would be used for MAC OR PC but not both (i'm just making this simple for you, it can be done sorta with dual filesystem partitions HFS+/FAT32), and drobo ISCSI can use both since its iscsi and both talk but not share files quite fine.

 

[BDD888]

Thanks for the information Emulex. Yes. Using a DROBO with at least 2 drives would make more sense since that is part of the point of having one. If one drive fails...

Maybe I'll get one in the future. I am looking at OWC ext drives too now. Formatted for Macs. Well built. Reliable. And you're not forced to use any built-in software on the drive or on your computer. Which is one of my major gripes with the many ext drives on the market (e.g. WD, Seagate..).

Can you recommend other drives besides the OWC (and DROBO) which don't require you to use proprietary built-in software? If I don't have to format it for my Mac that would be even better.

Again...are all new hard drives pre-formatted? I read that they are "factory formatted". True? This way my iMac should see the drives in a DROBO direct (non-S) allowing me to format it to Mac OS Extended (Journaled).

Last one...if I exchanged my WD for another WD and wanted to remove the built-in software before formatting it how would I do this?

 

[Emulex]

owc just rebadges the other drives.

yeah seagate sells a mac drive external. they format it for you (which takes a few minutes).

most drives are NOT pre-formatted any more. time is money and it takes time to pre-format.

so you can buy any generic external drive. plug it in. format it. and be done. OWC will be glad to charge you extra for this kind task and a sticker. just sayin'. So will Seagate.

Since the first intel imac - you have not needed any drivers to use external drives . period. (i did not own a mac before the first intel imac). that was a while ago.

 

[BDD888]

I was looking at the Seagate GoFlex line of drives. Read they come also with pre-installed software. How is it? Can you set it so that it's just in the background on the ext drive (e.g. no annoying on-computer icon/software)

As I said. I tried formatting my WD 2TB Essential for Mac without first removing the pre-installed software. It was still there afterwards. So I Googled and found WD's suggest steps. For some reason my firmware installer program that I downloaded from a link in the article ended up skipping some steps and left this new drive in what looks like a sleep mode. So I'm not comfortable formatting. Prefer to avoid the possible aggrivation. Should be straight forward but at least with WD drives it's not. So if I can pickup a drive preformatted for the Mac w/o pre-loaded software that would be best (e.g. OWC, DROBO, Apple Time Capsule).

 

[Emulex]

here is my most sincere advice:

buy a drive.
buy an external case.
plug it in.

the drives put in external enclosures are the crappiest drives (fact) due to binning. the drive you buy yourself and put in a case is far nicer drive on par with oem quality.

plus it takes 5 minutes. if too lazy then go pay owc to do this for you. they are glad to charge you alot for their time.

 

[BDD888]

Sounds like great advice. Maybe I'll do that. I assume it's just a matter of unscrewing drive enclosures (depending on designs...like this one from Antec..http://www.ncix.com/products/?sku=28...re=Thermaltake ...acting almost like a DROBO in that new HD are easily swapped in or out.

And it shouldn't matter whether I buy a SATA or SATA2 HD right? I'm going to be formatting it for my iMac/Time Machine as you know.

This WD hard drive seems like a good deal...doesn't say how fast (rpm) it is though...http://www.ncix.com/products/?sku=49...D&promoid=1281

Would only cost me $125.00 CAD roughly. I like that!

 

[Emulex]

no all sata drives are backwards compatible these days.

 

[BDD888]

Looks like these enclosures support only up to 2TB drives (which is fine for me) and I need to make sure they support Mac OS X. Some only support Windows.

I guess that's all I need to be concerned about?

When did people start building their own ext drives? As well when did case manufacturers start producing them? I'm so out of the hardware building loop. Last time I built a PC was back in the late 80's.

 

[Emulex]

they all support osx. they will work fine. usually drives by themselves carry better warranties too.

mac is just a pc with a special bios honestly. it really isn't anything special any more.

 

[BDD888]

they all support osx. they will work fine. usually drives by themselves carry better warranties too.

mac is just a pc with a special bios honestly. it really isn't anything special any more.

Ok good to know. Because there was a Vantec enclosure I liked.

 

[nanaki333]

there really is nothing special about mac. all those components in a mac are for pc too. apple just wants to make people think there's something special inside to warrant a 100%+ markup

 

[BDD888]

there really is nothing special about mac. all those components in a mac are for pc too. apple just wants to make people think there's something special inside to warrant a 100%+ markup

True today. But I'd add what sets Apple apart is their smart OS and apps. And they do have some other smart peripherals.

Just found a Vantec dual dock USB 3.0 "exclosure" that supports up to 4TB (though they say check with their website...which says the same thing..."check with our website...LOL). Does this mean the computer (my iMac) will see 2 external drives?

So I guess I'm covered should I later decide to add a 3TB or 4TB drive. Are there 4TB drives??

 

[BDD888]

Question about Thermatake ext HD dock (http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applicatio...746&CatId=2785).

The webpage says it's "...PC & Mac compatible...VISTA Ready". What does that mean? Curious. Not that it should matter for me since I'm buying a dock for my iMac. I'm assuming because it's "compatible" I should have no issues. Just drop a SATA 1 or 2 3.5" drive (2TB max) then format the drive. Done. Correct?

Also, I just found out on a video clip from "Ask the Techie", that some new HD come formatted for FAT32 and others Mac. Which would let a PC or Mac see the drive but not necessarily be able to write to (Mac...need to format to Mac OS Extended (Journaled)). Yet I've read from some forum members (other forums) that say "all new drives come unformatted". How can we tell how that drive has been formatted before buying the drive. Is there something on the specs?

Update: I guess there might be. At the bottom of this ad (http://www.ncix.com/products/?sku=49...D&promoid=1281) it does say it supports PC. So I guess it means it's been formatted probably in NTFS. And that a HD like this one..http://www.ncix.com/products/?sku=58485&vpn=WD20EURS&manufacture=Western Digital WD...which says it's compatible for both the PC/Mac is likely formatted in FAT32 (able to be read to by both PC/Mac...not writable for Mac)...though in either case I'd assume that my Mac OS X should still see either drive...allowing it to be formatted if I were to use a Thermatake HD Dock to sit the new drive in.

 

[nanaki333]

True today. But I'd add what sets Apple apart is their smart OS and apps. And they do have some other smart peripherals.

Just found a Vantec dual dock USB 3.0 "exclosure" that supports up to 4TB (though they say check with their website...which says the same thing..."check with our website...LOL). Does this mean the computer (my iMac) will see 2 external drives?

So I guess I'm covered should I later decide to add a 3TB or 4TB drive. Are there 4TB drives??

yes, but the smart OS and apps is also a problem with apple. your apps must be approved through apple. if they feel you're going to get more profit than the initial cost of an app, denied! also, they're very strict about what an app can and cannot access in the system. this makes it very hard for 3rd party AV companies to make a real AV/anti-spyware program. which, with the market share mac is gaining, hackers and virus makers are starting to take note of. i guess apple thinks you'll get an AV program when they decide. if you get any type of virus now, YOU'RE USING IT WRONG!


oh, and i installed vanilla osx 10.6.3 on an old c2d shuttle with very few patches needed and it works great.

 

[jrjiri]

dating software
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yes, but the smart OS and apps is also a problem with apple. your apps must be approved through apple. if they feel you're going to get more profit than the initial cost of an app, denied! also, they're very strict about what an app can and cannot access in the system. this makes it very hard for 3rd party AV companies to make a real AV/anti-spyware program. which, with the market share mac is gaining, hackers and virus makers are starting to take note of. i guess apple thinks you'll get an AV program when they decide. if you get any type of virus now, YOU'RE USING IT WRONG!

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oh, and i installed vanilla osx 10.6.3 on an old c2d shuttle with very few patches needed and it works great.

Good info! I used to have a Mac and found it pretty picky in turms of hardware and software. I'm glad I finally bought a Gateway machine instead. It's a drag having to have Apple approval on apps.

 

[BDD888]

I ended up ordering a Thermatake single drive HDD Dock and a Seagate Barracuda XT 2TB HDD. Supposed to receive both by the 14th.

And about Apple's control over apps for their OS it's great for them and customers. Not so good for developers I suppose looking for the best deal. As a customer and fan of Apple apps (e.g. Final Cut, iLife), their OS and many of their hardware I'm happy to be a continued supporter and buyer.

Gateway? Can't be serious. No offense pal but I've heard nothing but horror stories from Gateway purchases. There were Gateway stores here in Toronto a few years ago. I think they've all gone bust.

And soon, March 25th, the 2nd gen iPad will be out here in Canada. Might consider one this time around...

Any how thanks for your help guys. Cya around the forum.

 

[Emulex]

i'd wait for this xmas for ipad3 with retina display