# Understanding Mounting, File Systems, and Choosing Between EXT4 vs NTFS

Before we bind our drives and awaken the Machine Spirits, it’s important to understand **what mounting is**, **what file systems are**, and **why we choose EXT4 or NTFS** depending on how the drive will be used.

This page explains everything in simple terms so beginners can follow confidently.

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## 🧩 What Does “Mounting” Mean?

On Linux, storage devices like HDDs, SSDs, or USB drives **do not automatically appear as folders**.  
Instead, the operating system must *mount* them — meaning:

### **Mounting = attaching a physical drive to a folder on the filesystem.**

For example:
```
Device: /dev/sda1
Mounted at: /mnt/omnissiah-vault
```

Once mounted:

- The drive becomes accessible through that folder
- Applications can read/write files there
- You can organize media, downloads, and configuration data

If the drive is *not mounted*, nothing can access it—even if Linux sees the hardware.

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## 📘 Why We Use `/mnt/…`

Linux keeps the system organized using conventions:

| Path | Purpose |
|------|---------|
| `/home` | User home folders |
| `/root` | Root account home |
| `/etc` | System configuration |
| `/mnt` | Drives mounted by the user/admin |

We follow the Linux standard by mounting drives under:
```
/mnt/omnissiah-vault
```


This makes it clear that the drive is external storage, not part of the system root.

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## 🔧 What Is a File System?

A **file system** determines how data is organized on a drive.

It controls:

- How files are stored
- How permissions work
- How large files can be
- How reliable and fast the storage is

Two major file systems matter for media management:

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# 🆚 EXT4 vs NTFS — Which Should You Use?

Below is a simple, clear comparison.

| Feature | EXT4 (Linux Native) | NTFS (Windows Native) |
|--------|----------------------|------------------------|
| Best OS support | Linux | Windows |
| Performance on Linux | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Fast | ⭐ Slow (requires NTFS-3G driver) |
| Supports Linux permissions (chmod, chown) | ✔ Yes | ❌ No (emulated) |
| Good for Plex & ARR stack | ✔ Best choice | ✔ Works but slower |
| Reliability | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Excellent | ⭐⭐⭐ Good |
| 4K/large drive support | ✔ Yes | ✔ Yes |
| Automatic mounting | Easy | Slightly more complex |
| Ideal use case | Permanent Linux storage | External drive shared with Windows |

### ✔ **Choose EXT4 if the drive stays connected to your Raspberry Pi/Linux system.**  
This is the recommended choice for **media servers**, **Plex**, and **qBittorrent** because:

- It’s faster  
- Uses native permissions  
- More stable  
- Less CPU overhead  
- Easier integration with Docker  

### ✔ **Choose NTFS only if the drive must also be used on Windows.**

For example:

- You physically unplug the drive and connect it to a Windows PC  
- You want to browse the media on Windows without a network share  

---

## 🪟 Accessing an EXT4 Drive on Windows?  
EXT4 cannot be read by Windows *natively*.

However, **this is not a problem**, because:

### You will access your media over the network using **Samba (SMB)**.

This means:

- You keep the performance, safety, and permissions of EXT4
- Windows PCs can still browse the media like a shared network drive

We will configure Samba later in an optional section:

👉 *“Accessing Your Media from Windows (Samba Setup)”*

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## 📥 Choose Your Mounting Ritual  
Below are two scripts — pick one based on your file system choice.

### 🟦 EXT4 Mounting Ritual (Recommended)

**Download:**  
👉 [bind-machine-spirits-ext4.sh](../scripts/shell/setup-mount-points/ext4.sh)

(Use this if your drive is formatted as EXT4 and stays connected permanently.)

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### 🟨 NTFS Mounting Ritual (Legacy/Optional)

**Download:**  
👉 [bind-machine-spirits-ntfs.sh](../scripts/shell/setup-mount-points/ntfs.sh)

(Use this only if your drive must work on both Linux and Windows without Samba.)

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## 🧭 What Happens Next?

Once you choose your file system and run the ritual script:

1. Your mount point will be created  
2. `/etc/fstab` will be updated for automatic mounting  
3. The drive will appear under `/mnt/omnissiah-vault`  
4. Subdirectories (movies, tv-shows, downloads, etc.) will be generated  

## Next steps

Proceed to the **Setup Mount Points** step to prepare storage paths and permissions: `steps/setup-mount-points.md`.

👉 **Install Docker**  
with all your directory paths standardized and ready for the media automation pipeline.

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