NAS file system, will it work with MAC and Windows PC?

Last updated on 26 Nov 2021 📧 Subscribe

NAS file system, will it work with MAC and Windows PC?

Yes, people are often confused about NAS. What kind of file system it has and will it work with my MAC or PC that has its own file system such as FAT32, NTFS on Windows and APFS, exFAT on MAC.

NAS is like a standalone Linux computer with a NAS operating system built on top of this backbone. OS such as DSM from Synology and QTS from Qnap (and other brands).

The most common file systems on a NAS are EXT4, BTRFS or ZFS.

The exts4 and Btrfs1 file systems are supported on DSM 6.0 and above. You can create a volume in either of these file systems depending on your needs and preferences. The table below provides details on which file system you should use when creating a volume.

Starting from DSM 7.0.1, an additional Btrfs file system, Btrfs (Peta Volume), is available on specific Synology NAS models.2
Btrfs
Btrfs (Peta Volume)
ext4
Features of the file system
  • Data protection features, e.g., snapshot, replication, and point-in-time recovery
  • Data integrity protection
  • User quotas for each shared folder
  • Large volume creation of up to 1 PB
  • Less hardware requirements than Btrfs
Main purposes of your volume
  • Storing critical business data that requires data integrity and protection
  • Recommended for general file sharing, or providing iSCSI LUNs for server virtualization
  • Storing multiple large shared folders or backup files
  • Suitable for use as a file server or data archiving
  • Using the following functions or packages with performance requirements:
    • Surveillance Station

The question is – will it work with my MAC or PC if NAS has a different file system?

The answer is YES. Thanks to NFS network file system – all data gets translated between NAS and any client computer accessing the data. This means you can store and access files across different platforms.

 

A network file system (NFS) is a type of file system mechanism that enables the storage and retrieval of data from multiple disks and directories across a shared network. A network file system enables local users to access remote data and files in the same way they are accessed locally.

 

 

I hope this helps.

 

 


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2 thoughts on “NAS file system, will it work with MAC and Windows PC?”

  1. can a nas system file both mac files and pc files, co-mingled, and sort from them, together, in a manner similar to the mac “find” function? Can it sort by dates,titles, categories, etc?

    Reply