I've successfully transitioned most of my computers to Linux, and I love the freedom it offers. Now, I want to convert my last computer, which serves as my media server and work device. The challenge is that most of my data is stored on an external hard drive, which has more storage than the computer itself. I'm planning to install CachyOS with a Btrfs filesystem, but I'm concerned about whether I can keep my external hard drive as NTFS. Will all my applications, like Jellyfin, still be able to access the data from it? If switching to a different filesystem on that external drive means losing my data, how can I do it easily without another storage device?
3 Answers
Linux supports NTFS, so your external hard drive should work fine with CachyOS. If it doesn't come with NTFS support right away, you can easily install the necessary packages. That means Jellyfin should still be able to access and play your media from the NTFS drive without issues.
Just a heads up—even though NTFS works, I've had issues with mounting it over time. It can get tricky!
Before you do anything, make sure you have a verified backup! It's common for people to lose their data during transitions. I recommend a 3-2-1 backup strategy: three copies of your data on at least two types of storage, and one off-site, like in the cloud. You could keep NTFS for now, but if you're moving to Linux, it might be worth switching to a native file system like ext4. Just move the data off, format the drive, and transfer it back in stages.
Theoretically, Jellyfin should access the data on your NTFS drive. However, keep in mind that there could be permission issues despite the file system compatibility.
That's reassuring! So if Jellyfin is installed on the Btrfs storage, it can fetch media from the NTFS drive? That's all I needed to know!