WHAT IS EXTERNAL HARD DRIVE AND WHY ITS IMPORTANT

In my last post, I posted an article on how you can save your files on cloud drive. should in case you missed it or want to read it, you can read it here.

External hard drives come in many sizes and styles.

What is External Hard Drive? An external hard drive is a hard disk drive just like the one inside your computer, where you can store any kind of file. Many are often small and portable, making them easy to stow away in a desk drawer or carry with you. Others are much larger and are designed to sit on your desk.

How does it work?

External drives connect to your computer to provide extra storage, usually with a USB cable. Once connected, which involves little more than plugging it in, you can drag and drop or copy files you want from your computer's hard drive to the external drive. Once synced to the drive, those files will live safely away from your computer and offer protection in case your computer gets stolen or damaged.

Potential drawbacks?

Hard drives can fail at any time, for many different reasons. One day you may plug in your portable drive and it won't work, which means you won't be able to access the files you've stored on it. It's rare for a newer hard drive to fail completely, and most drives can last years and years before needing to be replaced, but just keep in mind that failures can happen.

Why is it important?

You having your own external hard drive is very important because this will help you still have your files you've save or the backup of your system should in case your computer crashed anytime.

What should I buy?

External hard drives come in many sizes and storage capacities. If you only have a few files and photos to back up, a 500GB or 1TB drive, which will cost around $50-$100, will more than suffice. A 1TB drive can hold up to a few hundred thousand photos taken with an 8-megapixel camera (depending on file size), or several thousand documents. If you have more files than that to back up, look at 2TB and up models which start around $100.

Some external hard drives have a rugged, waterproof or fireproof case and they're worth buying if you're concerned about unforeseen circumstances damaging the drive.

Check out CNET's recommendations for the best storage devices and best portable hard drives. Also make sure to read our guide on using external hard drives as a backup.

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