3TB HDD Questions.

[N30]

Hello all,

I just got my first 3TB HDD. It's a Segate ST3000DM001. I plan on using this drive mostly externally (via USB, sometimes eSATA) as a "media server" of sorts. It will be completely filled with various format video files ranging from a few MB to well over 30gb. Other than that, some photographs (mostly jpg) as well. I already partitioned the disk to GPT with Pmagic then I went ahead and formatted the whole volume as a partition in EX4. I noticed that about 150GB of space is being used in this file system partitioning. I have been using Linux for ~3 months now but I am still very much a noob. I do not plan on going back to Windows EVER...and I cannot afford a Mac, so it's for Linux use. I currently use Fedora, Ubuntu and CentOS. Basically, my question is -- what should I do here/best option? What's the best file system for this purpose? Why is so much space used from the get go and is there anything I can do about this because I need all the space I can get. Anything else I should know/need to know? Any help, guidance, advice, etc would be greatly appreciated.

I apologize if I have posted this in the wrong section, etc. If that is the case, please feel free to move the thread. I Did read rules, search for answers, etc. before posting this thread. Thank you.

[Vulcan]

I apologize if I have posted this in the wrong section, etc. If that is the case, please feel free to move the thread.

Since this is not regarding disk repair or data recovery, IMHO yes, it is in the wrong section. I've asked for this thread to be moved to the general forum instead, if the moderator agrees. Anyway...

This isn't a Linux or media server support forum, so IMHO some (most?) of your questions are off-topic here (that's another reason for this thread to be in the general forum), but there is one question I can answer [I'm avoiding your other questions, as those answers would be matters of opinion, and I don't have time to write long explanations ]

I just got my first 3TB HDD.
[...]
formatted the whole volume as a partition in EX4 [You mean ext4]. I noticed that about 150GB of space is being used in this file system partitioning.
[...]
Why is so much space used from the get go and is there anything I can do about this because I need all the space I can get.

Based on those figures, it's nothing to do with partitioning - it's to do with the filesystem, and ext3/ext4 are not alone in this behaviour, for reasons that are off topic here. Hint: Do a quick calculation - this space is approx:

150GB / 3000GB (*100 to get the answer in percent) = 5%

Do a web search for ext3 or ext4 (it applies to both) and 5% reserved space - you'll find that this is normal behaviour (the default percentage remains the same, irrespective of the filesystem size), but this percentage can be reduced (unmount the partition first), using the command that you'll find when you do that web search. Welcome to the world of Linux

[Vulcan]

P.S. If you are ever going to add & remove files from this filesystem later then, despite you saying that you want to fill the disk, I would not reduce the reserved percentage to zero, for reasons related to fragmentation. But that's just IMHO.

[einstein9]

Hello all,

I just got my first 3TB HDD. It's a Segate ST3000DM001. I plan on using this drive mostly externally (via USB, sometimes eSATA) as a "media server" of sorts. It will be completely filled with various format video files ranging from a few MB to well over 30gb. Other than that, some photographs (mostly jpg) as well. I already partitioned the disk to GPT with Pmagic then I went ahead and formatted the whole volume as a partition in EX4. I noticed that about 150GB of space is being used in this file system partitioning. I have been using Linux for ~3 months now but I am still very much a noob. I do not plan on going back to Windows EVER...and I cannot afford a Mac, so it's for Linux use. I currently use Fedora, Ubuntu and CentOS. Basically, my question is -- what should I do here/best option? What's the best file system for this purpose? Why is so much space used from the get go and is there anything I can do about this because I need all the space I can get. Anything else I should know/need to know? Any help, guidance, advice, etc would be greatly appreciated.

I apologize if I have posted this in the wrong section, etc. If that is the case, please feel free to move the thread. I Did read rules, search for answers, etc. before posting this thread. Thank you.

if you want my advice my dear, go for WD 3TB
i will NEVER trust the Seagate with 5 cents...

good luck

[craig6928]

had a segate drive fail lost a lot of movies on it around 5,000

crc error piece of crap

go with western digital but not the green version as they dont last

[sdknola]

I have two WD 500GB Green drives that are still alive after about four years, but these days I stick with Black -- the warranty is really incredible for the cost.

[craig6928]

your luck your green drives are still alive

as i had them fail on me also

seagate hit and miss some drives ok others crap

western digital hmmmmm some drives good

but keep away from the blue crap ones

[TaskManager]

I am wondering why there is not a single praiseof trusted Hitachi & toshiba's
I found Hitachi & Toshiba Far better than Seagate.WD Enterprise drives could be reliable not low profile WD Blue.

[dobrevjetser]

Toshiba is only 2.5", so no 3TB and hitachi is bought by WD, so will disappear i guess.

[northwind]

Toshiba is only 2.5"

Not anymore!

Attachments

[TaskManager]

Western Digital's hopes of turning the hard drive industry into a duopoly have been dashed as the US Federal Trade Commission demands it sells its desktop hard drive manufacturing facilities to a competitor.

As a result of the order, Toshiba will receive all the production and sales assets required to take Hitachi GST's place in the desktop hard drive market with a market share of around 18 per cent. Additionally, Western Digital will be forced to provide the company with access to its employees involved in research & development and production of desktop hard drives, as well as to licence all intellectual property required under fair and non-discriminatory terms. Finally, Western Digital will also be required to sell components to Toshiba until such a time as it can begin manufacturing its own.

WD is required to drop specific assets to receive permission to finalize the acquisition of Hitachi Global Storage Technologies (HGST). The sale will allow Toshiba tomanufacture and sell 3.5-inch hard drives for desktop and consumer electronics applications and will help Toshiba to expand its near-line HDD business