How can I format or erase an external drive connected to a wireless router

I am working with a mac mini running OS X 10.7.4. The mini is connected to the internet via a linksys router. I have an external drive connected to the router. The router is listed under the shared list in Sidebar. If I select the router in the sidebar the external drive is displayed as a folder. Is there a way to have this external drive treated as a drive and not a folder? I would like to be able to erase/format the drive from my mini. I know that I can connect the external drive to the mini and perform the erase but I would like to know if there is a way to do it through the router.
thanks for the help

It is not usually possible to do this with router connected
hard drives.  Routers with this capability basically have
its own OS, usually some minimilistic form of Linux or
propriotary RTOS, that actually interface to the drives
and runs the file server.  This in itself prevents any
"outsider" from formating the attached drives.  Much in the
same way that you cannot use Disk Utility on one Mac
to format a network connected volume on another Mac.

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