4.5 KiB
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.
🧩 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.
📘 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.
🔧 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:
🆚 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)”
📥 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
(Use this if your drive is formatted as EXT4 and stays connected permanently.)
🟨 NTFS Mounting Ritual (Legacy/Optional)
Download:
👉 bind-machine-spirits-ntfs.sh
(Use this only if your drive must work on both Linux and Windows without Samba.)
🧭 What Happens Next?
Once you choose your file system and run the ritual script:
- Your mount point will be created
/etc/fstabwill be updated for automatic mounting- The drive will appear under
/mnt/omnissiah-vault - 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.