Plus, an external drive takes less time to copy large files to a physical drive than it does to upload them to an online service via an internet connection. However, external hard drives are great value, easy to use and allow you to store large amounts of data off of your device at little cost. Its storage capacity is limited, though.Īnother good option is the Toshiba Canvio Basics, which is compact, has fast transfer speeds and a cool running temperature.Ī physical solution may seem like a step backward, though, especially when cloud storage lets you save data online. If you want one that’s built for durability, the LaCie Rugged Mini is a great choice thanks to its distinctive rubber bumpers that protect it from water, dust and medium-height drops. They also offer high storage capacities, ranging from 1TB to 15TB, and high transfer speeds, which is essential if you often move lots of big files.Īmong the most popular external-drive manufacturers are Seagate and Western Digital, which offer lots of capacities and fast transfer speeds with their devices. Has to be carried everywhere for access to filesĮxternal Hard Drives: The Lure of Local StorageĮxternal hard drives are cheaper than ever and require only a one-time upfront cost, so you can avoid the recurring bandwidth usage and subscription fees that are typical of cloud storage services. Susceptible to fire, theft & hard drive failureĢ. We’ll go into the details in the next section.ġ. That may push you toward using cloud storage, which uses a cloud service to keep files safe at all times.īelow, we have put together a quick comparison table that lays out the pros and cons of cloud storage vs external hard drive solutions, so you can figure out which one is right for you. Though an external hard drive is safe from hackers and stores everything in minutes, it’s susceptible to damage, theft and hard drive failure, just like any physical device. External Hard Drives vs Cloud Storage: Which Should You Use? Read about it in our CloudBerry Backup review, and also read our guide to how cloud storage works. If what you want is a backup solution, you can use CloudBerry Backup to backup your files to an external hard drive. That said, their general behavior determines their purpose, even though the infrastructure may be the same. Both tools work by hosting files in the cloud, so you can access them from desktops or mobile devices with an internet connection. We’re going to look at the strengths and weaknesses of the cloud storage vs external hard drive options, then recommend which one you should use.īefore we move on, though, people often confuse online storage and online backup, so understanding the difference is important when deciding whether to use cloud storage or external hard drive solutions. At, we’ve reviewed a lot of cloud storage services, including familiar names such as Google Drive, Dropbox, and pCloud, as well as a variety of external hard drives. Using cloud storage or an external hard drive is standard practice for keeping data safe, secure and accessible, as well as freeing up space on a computer. In this article, we’re going to compare the two to help you figure out which is best for you. The two most common ways of storing data are using an external hard drive or cloud storage. If you keep running out of space on your computer or mobile device, or if you’ve lost count of the many USB keys you use to save documents, it’s time to get a better storage solution for your files.
#External hard drives for photo storage how to
#External hard drives for photo storage generator