External Hard Disk Drives

External Hard Disk Drives

Transfer all those extraneous files on your computer to an external hard disk drive, or HDD, to speed up your computer's performance. External hard drives immediately increase your storage capacity and are easy to use right out of the box. Some drives feature encryption so you can store your important files securely while limiting access to prying eyes. Look for rugged or water-resistant drives that are designed with a reinforced exterior if you plan to take your drive out and about.

Storage Capacity

Decide on the drive storage capacity that best meets your needs, as high-capacity drives give you room for more. If you plan to store documents, photos and the occasional video, then an external 1 TB hard disk drive suffices. For greater storage needs, consider an external 4 TB hard disk drive for your music and video collection.

Type

Place your desktop drive in the most optimal position on your desk, whether vertically or horizontally, to have it at hand whenever you need it. Travel light, but heavy with files, using a portable external hard disk drive that gives you easy access to your files while being lightweight enough to take everywhere.

Interface

Speed up the time it takes to transfer and write files by choosing an external HDD with a USB 3.0 or an external serial advanced technology attachment (eSATA) interface instead of one with a USB 2.0. The former two usually take a fraction of the time that the latter does to do the same thing, sometimes even up to 10 times faster, freeing up your time to focus on more important tasks. However, the eSATA drive needs an external power source, so you need to take that into account as well.

Rotating Speed

Consider that the higher the rotating speed of an HDD, the faster the drive's performance. Therefore, a drive with 10,000 revolutions per minute (RPM) is much faster than another with 5,400 RPM.

Categories