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EXTERNAL HARD DRIVE




You need an external hard drive to store your extensive photo library. Or perhaps it's your music collection, which got out of hand and grew exponentially. Or maybe it's your library of videos that continues to grow because you must have every video ever made. Whatever the reason, you are looking for storage which is external to the computer. You want some place that's safe, a place that is not affected by lightning strikes or computer glitches.


The computer is a machine and is subject to ware and tare, and sometimes parts need to be repaired or replaced. This is easy, after all you built this machine, and now all you have to do is replace the defective part. The only thing you can't replace is the data. For this you need a backup copy of your data. Here again the external hard drive is the place to backup your data. But, you must set up a backup regiment, one that you follow every day. So the external drive is always current.


If you do not have a backup copy of your data, and the internal hard drive fails, you are left to replace the hard drive and reload your programs from your CDs and DVDs. There is no replacement for your lost data (photos, music, videos, letters, e-mails, client lists, customer lists, accounting information, etc.). Do you begin to see the advantage of backing up your data regularly?




The external hard drive is different from the internal drive, in that it requires its own power supply, and it also connects to the computer via a backplane connector. The most common connections are to a USB, or eSATA, or firewire port. The latest version of eSATA is the fastest, and USB 2.0 is next. Make sure the external drive has greater capacity then the internal drive; this will allow you to backup everything. Also, that the drive connector matches one on the backplane.


There are two ways of acquiring an external hard drive; the first is to purchase one complete, plug it in, and connect it to the proper port, and your off and running. The second is to purchase an external drive case and any internal hard drive. Then mount the drive inside the case, make the connections, and go. The advantage to this approach is; if the internal drive fails, you can replace it with the external drive, and continue working. Your data will be as current as your latest backup.


Take a look at the offerings provided by your online computer parts store and evaluate which external drive iconwill satisfy your needs. Look at other online stores to make sure you are getting the best deal.


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