External Hard Drives - edjumacate me!

[helibow]

I need to get an EHD so I can make sure all my important things are stored safe and secure. I'm not an electronics guy per se... and I dont have the patience to go stand and talk "tech" with the 19 year old computer guru at Best Buy. I dont have a ton of stuff to put on there, but thinking a 1TB EHD would do the trick. There are too many brands to begin to understand... anyone have a recommendation for a reasonably priced reliable EHD?

[czechgrubworm]

Following

[YLEKeyeOT]

So, you'll find a wealth of these things across a spectrum of sizes (both capacity and physical dimensions). Check out Amazon.com for some pretty good pricing.

Footprint
Basically, there are 2 primary physical types based on usage - 1) for portable use; 2) for desktop use. The fundamental difference is that the portable drives typically pull power through the USB connection and the desktop platforms typically have a power cord separate from the USB connection. Aside from that, you'll find many variations on those themes.

Data Connection
Here you will find several different connections. Most of them will be USB, however you'll find USB 2.0, 3.0, firewire, WiFi, ethernet, etc. as options as well. You will need to decide what connection is best for you (and what you want to pay for) and some will provide several different connection types in one package. Most cases all you will need is USB and likely v2.0. USB 3 is faster but unless your computer supports it, you will be handicapped down to 2.0 speeds.

Check to make sure your OS is supported as well (Windows, MAC, etc.). These days, most are fully compatible.

buy it, plug it in, typically your OS will recognize it and mount it as a new (additional drive) like E:\ or some such, then drag/drop files and directories to/from it. Typically if you just want it for backup, you'll simply want to COPY over to it for an extra copy not on your computer.

There's all sorts of software to automate backups which you might consider. Some (Carbonite, etc.) will even back up to cloud storage and may eliminate your need for the external drive. These are usually subscription based meaning you pay a monthly/yearly fee.

I'm partial to Seagate. Had a bad experience with Western Dig. years ago so won't give them another shot.

Hope that helps a little.

[HoustonHunter94]

I debated between cloud and EHD and ended up going with the Carbonite option. My thinking was that if I got the external drive, it would be up to me make sure I backed up everything and unless you have a fireproof safe and keep it in there, what happens if God forbid the house burns down? Yes, you are on the hook for a yearly cost but for me it was worth it and easy to access from anywhere.

[redleg62]

I used an old 500 gig hhd, and mounted it in an enclosure and use that. It has a power supply , and a cooling fan. Its about the size of a paperback novel. 25.00 shipped if i remember

[dmcm33]

If you're near a Costco, check out what they have. They generally have good quality hard drives for a good price.

[helibow]

Good information so far, had not considered "cloud" but will do some research on it. I'm vaguely familiar with it, but again, haven't really wanted/needed to do more research into it until now. My only concern about cloud is that it isnt in my physical possession and that to me means some 14yr old whiz kid might be able to hack in and get to my stuff... I'm sure it's got security process, but so did every other thing that has ever been hacked into.

[HuttoHunter]

The 14 yr old kid is probably already snooping around your computer over the internet and you don't know it. Most people plug their external hard drive in and forget about it. Thus giving the kid access to the data. I am a fan of google and microsoft's cloud storage offering. The big difference between an external drive anda cloud service is you have a whole company of specialist making sure your data is safe vs you and anybody else who uses your computer and its single, non redundant external drive.

[Bill M]

So, you'll find a wealth of these things across a spectrum of sizes (both capacity and physical dimensions). Check out Amazon.com for some pretty good pricing.

Footprint
Basically, there are 2 primary physical types based on usage - 1) for portable use; 2) for desktop use. The fundamental difference is that the portable drives typically pull power through the USB connection and the desktop platforms typically have a power cord separate from the USB connection. Aside from that, you'll find many variations on those themes.

Data Connection
Here you will find several different connections. Most of them will be USB, however you'll find USB 2.0, 3.0, firewire, WiFi, ethernet, etc. as options as well. You will need to decide what connection is best for you (and what you want to pay for) and some will provide several different connection types in one package. Most cases all you will need is USB and likely v2.0. USB 3 is faster but unless your computer supports it, you will be handicapped down to 2.0 speeds.

Check to make sure your OS is supported as well (Windows, MAC, etc.). These days, most are fully compatible.

buy it, plug it in, typically your OS will recognize it and mount it as a new (additional drive) like E:\ or some such, then drag/drop files and directories to/from it. Typically if you just want it for backup, you'll simply want to COPY over to it for an extra copy not on your computer.

There's all sorts of software to automate backups which you might consider. Some (Carbonite, etc.) will even back up to cloud storage and may eliminate your need for the external drive. These are usually subscription based meaning you pay a monthly/yearly fee.

I'm partial to Seagate. Had a bad experience with Western Dig. years ago so won't give them another shot.

Hope that helps a little.

What he said. YLEKeyeOT I was like you about WD and would only buy Seagate until I read an article about most failures being seagates. Having said that I like Seagate desktops better than WD. Had a Lacie but it failed fairly early IMO. I built a new computer and put in WD black harddrives.

I have a seagate desktop that has been great and it's probably toward the end of it's life at 3 1/2 to 4 years old. I also have an extra internal WD black in my machine that I also use for backup. I back up docs, pics, etc twice per week, once to each hard drive with a program called Syncback free so I have my stuff in 3 places. It has been superb. You do not have to restore anything, it backs it up as if it's the original and you can open it the same way. You set the schedule and let it go. I check it occasionally just to make sure everything is working as it should. Good luck to you.