Storage devices expand and safeguard your data, from single external SSDs and hard drives to multi-bay enclosures and direct-attached arrays. The right pick depends on how much capacity you need, how fast the storage must be, and whether you want simple backup, fast working space for editing, or redundancy that survives a drive failure. Speed, capacity, and resilience usually trade off against price.
SSD or HDD for external storage?
SSDs are faster, more durable, and silent — best for working files and portable use. HDDs cost far less per terabyte — best for bulk backups and archives. Many setups use both. The Storage column shows the medium each model uses.
What is RAID and do I need it?
RAID combines multiple drives so they act as one, adding speed and/or redundancy: mirroring (RAID 1) keeps a live copy so one drive can fail without data loss, while striping boosts speed. RAID protects against hardware failure but is not a backup — always keep a separate copy of anything important.
How much storage do I need?
Documents and photos need little; a large photo or 4K video library, game collection, or set of backups can run into many terabytes. Buy for your data now plus a couple of years of growth, and pair fast storage for active work with cheaper bulk capacity for archives.
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