An external hard drive is a drive that is separate from your PC’s tower. It’s housed in its own little case, usually with a fan to keep it cool and connects to your computer via a data cable. An external hard drive works the same way as your computer’s hard drive as it holds your system’s data. Programs, files, software, multimedia, it’s all housed in the hard drive.

Why You Need One

External hard drives are popular computer accessories thanks to their advantageous versatility and security. You can use an external hard drive to back up your files and store sensitive data. A nice feature is that while using your computer, you can keep your external drive turned off so its contents will be safe from any compromising Internet-related viruses or disasters.

External hard drives are also much more portable than the traditional computer tower. Just unplug and carry! You can plug an external hard drive into any computer with a USB (or firewall connection) and that computer will recognize the drive. So with the help of your hand external hard drive you can cart your entire four-decade collection of Top 40 hits to your friend’s birthday bash, or you could probably haul large work files home to… if you have to.

Features

External hard drives are available in lots of shapes, sizes, and now even colors. They also include some fun features that will really add to your technology arsenal. If you’re just backing up your great American novel and seven years of tax documents, you probably don’t need anything too big or fancy. But if you want to store your pictures or music etc. you might want to spring for the “ooooh ahhhh” factor.

Some drives include:

• Automatic back up features
• Mac and PC fluency for users who go back and forth between the operating systems
• Cataloging software to organize and display your photo and music collections
• Detachable flash drives
• Docking stations

What to Buy

You can find external hard drives at a variety of price levels with a whole menu of bells and whistles. Before you buy, do your research and make sure you’re purchasing a drive that meets your specific needs. Check out these sites below for detailed product reviews.

http://www.pcmag.com/category2/0,2806,4642,00.asp
http://reviews.cnet.com/hard-drives/
http://www.pcworld.com/reviews/collection/1650/top_10_external_hard_drives.html

Photos courtesy of Western Digital.

Going the Other Way: Cloud Drives

External harddrives have notable advantages, among them are the ability of the user to consolidate data, access it quickly and protect it.  That being said, innovations in online data storage are changing the gameplan for lots of users and businesses.  To get more information on online storage and cloud drives, check out our survey of the top 10 cloud storage solutions and what they bring to the table in terms of security, access, and ease of use.