A helpful device if you do work that consumes larger quantities of space or you have a regular need to move around files from one computer to another. Also a great way to back-up files you want to keep safe. Available in varied storage space sizes depending on your needs. External hard drives are very useful devices in today's day.

Uses of an external hard drive

In the information age, external hard drives are complementary to most peoples lives. Storage space is key with all the images, videos, documents and music one gathers over time. External Hard Drives can be used to extend your storage space or for information that needs backing-up so in case your computer or laptop fails and the drive crashes you have your files safe. Plus the advantage of being small and easily portable as well, which also makes them great for people who work from multiple machines.

Storage & connectivity

Available in a varied range of space anywhere from 80GB to 1TB and beyond. What amount of space you need does depend on your usage and the kind of work you do. If you have video files you would definitely need more space in comparison to just documents (Word or PDF files) that don't take too much space. They all connect to computers through either USB, FireWire, eSATA or WiFi. A lot of them are powered through the data cable but some larger ones or, for instance, the ones that use WiFi for connectivity need an external AC connection to a wall socket. There are companies that build rugged shockproof cased hard drives as well, just in case one drops it.

Types & brands

The writing speed and wear & tear varies between the regular HDD and the SSD (Solid State Drive). The SSD is faster with information transfer and reading, and as it has no moving parts it has a longer overall life. Known and market-tested brands that make External Hard Drives are Western Digital, CalDigit, Seagate, LaCie, ADATA and Samsung among others.