Find the right backup drive for your storage needs<article>
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You’ve got a lot of valuable things stashed on your computer. Some of them—like your music library—are deeply personal. Others—tax returns and business documents—are more mundane, but still important to keep around. And then there are things like photos that are simply irreplaceable should your computer’s hard drive suddenly give up the ghost.
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If putting together a
backup plan for your PC or
Mac is on your list of New Year’s resolutions, maybe a backup device should be on your holiday wishlist. But what device is appropriate for your needs?
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You can narrow down the search just by answering a few quick questions. Do you need to backup just one computer or an entire household of machines? If it’s just you, an external desktop drive may be the best choice. Look for a drive with a capacity higher than that of the computer you’re backing up. I recommend at least twice the capacity of your internal drive, if possible. Multi-computer households or offices should look into network attached storage options. We’ll examine both choices below.
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<h2>Desktop backup drives</h2>
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Most desktop backup devices use rotational hard drives, generally 7,200-RPM drives that require an external power supply. These hard drives aren’t as fast as solid state drives, but they offer much higher capacities and lower prices. Speed isn’t as important as capacity, especially when performing incremental backups. Most connect to your PC via USB 3.0, though eSATA and Thunderbolt drives are available.
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Find the right backup drive for your storage needs
