Hard Drives & SSDs page 11

Popular storage medium

A hard drive is an external memory device that saves various user and computer operating system data. In recent years the price of devices such as these has dropped significantly, and these days countless models with more than 1 terabyte of storage space are to be found. A hard drive can also be used as temporary memory, should a system exceed its memory capacity. With this type of drive the information is transferred onto the drive via a moveable arm, after which this info can be read. Your computer or tablet will by default have its own hard drive, but when you need more capacity for all your data, we recommend you buy a portable drive. This can easily be connected to the device via a USB connection, NAS system or FireWire.

Write & Read speeds

The speed of a hard drive determines the device's functionality and performance. The rotating disks in the hard drive itself can reach a particular speed that is expressed as revolutions per minute (RPM). Common speeds are 5400 and 7200 RPM. In addition, the write and read speeds determine the device's performance. This speed is expressed in megabytes per second (MB/s). The more data a hard drive can process per minute, the faster the system will work. The speed at which files can be transferred from your laptop or desktop to your hard drive in turn depends on the connection. With a USB 3.0, for example, you can transfer files to your drive 10x faster than with a USB 2.0 cable.

Storage capacity

The amount of storage space available depends on the type of information you wish to save. If you are looking to save many high quality videos it is advisable to buy a hard drive with at least 1 TB capacity. Lower capacity drives are suitable for saving photos and documents. However, all files nowadays take up ever more space, so we recommend buying a larger capacity drive than you might need. Leaving you prepared for the future.

SSD

With the launch of the SSD (solid state drive) in 2009 the speed of storage media was given a stimulus. The accessibility and transfer speed of the SSD far exceed that of a hard drive. In part this can be put down to the fact that the SSD stores data on memory chips. This doesn't happen with a moveable arm, such as with a hard drive, but instead via an electrical charge. Due to their high speed functionality SSDs are frequently used as a computer's start-up drive, but portable SSDs can be very handy too. Especially if you watch lots of films and listen to lots of music.

Accessories

A portable hard drive must be hooked up to your laptop or tablet. This can be done via a USB cable that is often supplied with it. Or it can be bought separately, of course. If you have run out of USB ports on your device you might want to consider a hub with individual USB ports. Giving you ample space to store stuff whenever you need to on portable devices. To protect your hard drive when you're out and about, a matching cover is very practical.