Computers have come a long way. For those who were coming up in the 1990s, those huge, cumbersome boxes have been replaced by sleek machines. Even better, there are a litany of accessories that can make your device perform even better.
One such device is an external hard drive. If you aren’t sure whether or not you need an external drive, there are plenty of reasons to have one. Check out the list of reasons why you should have an external hard drive in your bag of accessories.
Storage
The single biggest reason to have an external hard drive is for storage. Like any disc drive, the primary function of an external disc drive is to provide you with additional storage. If you tend to be on the go, an external drive makes it possible to stay prepared.
In this tech-driven world, having your laptop on you can be a dealbreaker. With an external hard drive, you can have ample storage no matter where you are. External devices are generally somewhere between 250GB and 1TB, though you can go all the way up to 18TB if need be.
Backups and Transfers
While storage is great, the real reason to have an external hard drive is because it makes backing up or transferring as simple as possible. Being on the go, transferring items can be a hassle if you don’t have the right accessories with you. Having an external drive means that you can transfer from your computer to the device and to another computer quickly.
Likewise, it is important to back your system up on a regular basis. With the right external hard drive, you can frequently back your system up. This way should something go wrong, you will be able to go back to a prior save point and get things back to where they should be.
Gaming
Gaming is a billion-dollar industry these days. Some have expensive rigs at home while others prefer to use a gaming laptop. Whatever the case may be, you should have an external hard drive in order to keep things running smoothly. After all, games have incredible graphics and maps, which means a lot more space is being taken up on your computer.
With an external hard drive, you can store games on your device without bogging down your computer. Even better, you can bring your favorite games with you no matter where you are. For gamers who like to spend time playing with friends, an external hard drive can be the best way to ensure that the game can go with you from place to place at any time.
Editing
Digital editing has made it possible to create incredible videos and photos at any time. Digital editing includes photo editing, digital illustration, video editing, audio editing, 3D rendering, and simulations. Because of the massive computing power required to run those applications, you need to have the necessary storage to hold any of the programs that you might need to use.
Having an external hard drive means that you get faster transfer times. You can transfer files quickly from your drive to your device without any dragging. Some drives even have raid processing, which connects multiple drives together to keep data safe. If one drive dies, the others will pick up the slack. Some external drives come in raid configurations to keep your data safe no matter what. Spending all of that time editing, the last thing that you need to have happen is a drive to crash and destroy your work. With multiple drives, you stay protected.
