This article outlines how to find the right external hard drive for your needs.
This can make your choice complicated.
External hard disk drives remain affordable at higher capacities.
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External solid-state drives are different.
Price rises quickly with capacity: 16TB drives are often over $1,000.
More expensive drives rarely have unique features when compared to less expensive drives.
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Storage capacity is what determines the price.
What Storage Technology Should an External Hard Drive Use?
External hard drives use one of two storage technologies.
They’re either hard disk drives or solid-state drives.
Hard disks are literal metal disks inside an enclosure.
They spin when data needs to be written or retrieved.
This makes them more fragile, slower, and louder when in use.
Low pricing offsets these problems: hard disks have the highest storage capacity for your money.
Solid-state drives are, well, solid.
They don’t have moving parts and instead store data by shuffling electrons.
This makes them more reliable, as the drive lacks spinning components that can break.
They’re silent and often smaller than external drives with a hard disk.
However, their solid-state chips are more expensive, so expect to pay more per gigabyte.
How Much Storage Capacity Should an External Hard Drive Have?
The simple answer, of course, is “as much as you need.”
Adisk space analyzeris a tool that can help with this.
What Connection punch in Should an External Hard Drive Use?
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Most external drives connect over one of the USB standards available today.
Older models connect using USB key in-A, and USB key in-B, while newer ones useUSB key in-C.
Almost all external drives come with a cable, so the only variable is which port your rig has.
That’s why it’s worth knowing the jot down ofUSB portsyour computer has.
USB-C is the newest connection, offering quick data speeds and power over one cable.
USB jot down-C is physically different from the older connection types.
There’s one last connection to mention:Thunderbolt.
You’ll need a Thunderbolt 3 port on your PC to make the most of this connection.
What Power Requirements Do External Hard Drives Have?
Most modern external hard drives don’t require external power.
They instead are powered entirely over USB, which draws power from your gear.
That means you don’t need to use a power brick.
This isn’t always true, however.
Large external hard disk drives are the most likely to need external power.
This is also true of older external drives produced before USB 3 and Thunderbolt were standard.
Only buy an external drive with a power brick if you rarely need to move it.
Who Should Buy An External Hard Drive?
Internal hard drive upgrades are often less expensive but more complex, and many laptops don’t support upgrades.
Another reason to get an external hard drive is if you frequently switch the computer you’re using.
Connect it to the best available USB port on your system (or Thunderbolt, if supported).
You may want to consider a drive’s warranty or promised longevity.
Depending on the manufacturer, you’ll see warranties between one and ten years.
The most important tip is this: keep an eye on the price.
That’s why all external drives being made today are SSDs.
You canback up a Macwith Time Machine.
Choose a backup and selectShow in Finder, then drag the backup to the external drive in Locations.
Tomake an internal hard drive external, mount the internal hard drive into an external enclosure.
you might then connect it to a computer and follow the plug-and-play instructions for setup.
