Time Machine / Ext Drive / Partioning Advice and Help

Hello.

I have just got my hands on a LACIE 500GB External drive that has more connections than your could ever need (eSATA, USB, Firewire etc).

What I want to do with this drive - and this where I am hoping someone can advise - is to use it for a shared purpose. I shall try to explain.

Firstly - I want to partion the drive into two. One partition being used to back up my MacBook via Firewire utilising Time Machine (and I figure about 150GB - 200GB for that partition). The second partition I want to allocate to a Samba share because I want to connect it to my home network via a Freecom FSG-3 (basically a mini server that also allows external drives to be connected via eSATA/USB).

So in the main the drive will be connected to the home network via eSATA and then periodically I will also connect the drive via Firewire to my laptop to back up. Can anyone forsee a problem?

Also - I have never partioned via the Apple Disk Utility so I am not sure how to go about it. Can someone please advise. Do I select two partions, decide on the space, format one as Apple HFS and then set the other partition to blank. I then format the blank area by other means?

Any help gratefully received.

Looking for answers too

I'm looking for the same type of answer. I'm new to Mac and can't quite figure out some of the partitioning protocols that seemed easier in WIN. Answers to your questions would be about the same need I have.