When it is necessary to have a shared storage place, the best solution is to use a dedicated hardware with an ethernet interface, so it is not necessary to move the hard disk(s) from a computer to another, and using the network to access the drive.

There are various hard drives to be used in this way, and an interesting one is the Maxtor Shared Storage II 1Terabyte hard disc. A review of this piece of hardware is available at OverClockers Club.

According to the review, this drive is really simple to install: simply plug the ethernet cable to the router/switch and then the power cable. The next step is to install the provided software to set permissions and quota for each user (not the most easy step according to the reviewer), and the drive is ready to be used by any user in the local network.

The complete review, showing also drive performance, can be read here.