{"id":846,"date":"2010-03-18T20:16:10","date_gmt":"2010-03-19T00:16:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kljcharters.wordpress.com\/?p=37"},"modified":"2016-05-22T22:24:48","modified_gmt":"2016-05-23T02:24:48","slug":"why-mac-users-should-think-about-a-drobo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kljcharters.com\/blog\/why-mac-users-should-think-about-a-drobo\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Mac users should think about a Drobo"},"content":{"rendered":"

5386<\/p>\n

It’s all about metadata
\n<\/strong>
\nThere are three basic NAS type devices out there:<\/p>\n

* HP Media Server and clones: HP promoted their Media Server at Macworld as a “home file server.” This somewhat surprised me, given that it is running Windows XP Media Edition or whatever the Vista equivalent might be;
\n* The generic NAS stuff, produced by Iomega, Buffalo, etc. Every single one of these I’ve ever seen uses a cut-down version of Linux;
\n* Apple Time Capsule<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Let’s address the first two types as a lump. Windows and the Linux-based stuff share things that a Mac can read as SMB (Server Message Block) volumes. The Linux-based NAS units use open-source Samba (a pun on SMB) services, while HP Media Server uses Windows or Vista SMB services. The operating system part isn’t as important as the file system.<\/p>\n

Now, what can you save in Windows? You can save a file, you can save the file’s “last saved” date, you can save its size. You _cannot_ save the icon directly; this is actually an abstraction through the registry. You _cannot_ save the icon color; Windows simply has never heard of this. If you want to change the icon, for example, you need to use a registry editor.<\/p>\n

Cosmetics aside, you also don’t get much metadata.<\/p>\n

What does a Mac save? It saves:<\/p>\n