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I have a few hdd in my fileserver. Do I have to format these as well when installing Ubuntu or will they work "same as on Windows"?

Edit: They are set up as JBOD (just a bunch of disks)

Zanna
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PatientBelt
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  • How are these drives being used? Are they operating in a JBOD (just a bunch of disks) configuration or are they setup in a raid array? Did you set them up as a DFS share? Please update the question with this information. – Gordster Oct 15 '19 at 18:29

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You can mount NTFS filesystems in Ubuntu. So no, they do not need to be reformatted in order to use them.

If you are going to continue to use the drives in a JBOD configuration then there is no real downside to keeping the NTFS filesystems (debatable of course). The only downside is that you may have to use an NFTS repair tool if the machine is powered off unexpectedly and usually its just easier to run the tools in Windows. Some say the NFTS filesystems perform slower than an ext filesystem but you probably wont notice it (unless you have LOTS of files).

Just disconnect the spare drives when you go to install Ubuntu to ensure that they are not touched.

If the drives to not automatically mount when you re-connect them, use the instructions found here to locate them using sudo fdisk -l and then mount them using the mount command.

Gordster
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