A Guide to External Hard Drives and SSDs – DIY in 5 Ep 155

Опубликовано 17 сентября 2021, 20:00

So much data, but where to put it all? SSD, HDD, NAS or M.2 SSD but I could make the enclosure? If that all sounds a bit like alphabet soup to you, we are hear to help you choose the right external storage solution.

Hard Drives
First up, let’s take a look at external HDD also known as hard disk drives, or hard drives. Hard drives are generally more affordable, larger and a bit weightier than other storage solutions out there like SSD. They have mechanical, moving parts so they are more prone to damage from a drop or a fall and generally have slower transfer speeds than SSDs. If you are looking for high-capacity storage at a decent price, with files that maybe you want to archive and aren’t as concerned with transfer speeds, and you plan to keep the drive in mostly one location, this could be the best solution for you.

External SSDs
Next up, SSD or solid-state drive storage, offers faster transfer speeds than traditional HDD drives so this is great if you need to access the data on the drive often or quickly. Solid state drives have no moving parts, so they are generally more durable and smaller in size making them a more portable storage solution as well. And portable SSDs, like their HDD counterparts, are mostly plug n play, meaning you can simply plug them into your computer via a USB connector and transfer files over immediately. In fact, if you are looking for a small, portable, plug n play, fast & rugged drive, check out the Kingston XS2000. One of the coolest things about this drive is that it uses the somewhat rare-to-date USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 connection standard, allowing for even faster data transfer speeds than other external SSD drives. We’ll get more into how USB connections impact your external drive a bit later in this video, but trust me, she’s fast! The one drawback to SSD storage used to be that it was significantly more expensive since you’re paying for a newer type of storage technology, but like most new technology, as it becomes more universally used, that price comes down a bit, so now you can find SSD storage options at a much more affordable price point.

Internal SSDs installed in external enclosures
Now if you want super-fast SSD speeds and you are willing to put in a little DIY elbow grease, you can usually save yourself some cash by purchasing a traditional SSD and putting it inside an external enclosure, thereby making an internal SSD into an external SSD. If you want to see a step-by-step guide on how to do that, check out the video linked in the pinned comment. Some drives like many of the Kingston 2.5” drives include an external enclosure and others you may have to purchase separately. Both Plugable and ElecGear make some really solid NVMe M.2 enclosures. NVMe drives can offer ultra-fast read and write speeds but it’s important to remember that your speeds are only as good as your slowest component and when it comes to external drives, often it’s your USB connection that may slow you down. For example, if your drive is capable of 3GB/s read and write speeds, but your connecting cable is a USB 3.1 Gen 2 USB, capable of up to 10 gigabits a second bandwidth, you won’t be actually getting those full speeds. Important to note here - a bit is 1/8th of a byte - so whether giga or mega, be sure not to mix these up as you may be expecting something 8 times faster than what you’ve got.

NAS
The storage solution that can accommodate the most data, anywhere from 4TB on up, is NAS or Network Area Storage. It is a high-capacity storage option that can connect to a network, allowing multiple people to access the data stored there. NAS solutions can be a bit more expensive to maintain as you need an enclosure that will then house your various drives within, manages the drive array, network and fileserver - the NAS enclosure basically acts as its own mini-computer. You can get NAS enclosures in anywhere from 2-8 bay options - or even larger for server type solutions. Then you purchase large capacity NAS drives to go in each of those bays depending on how much capacity you’ll need. This option is great for multiple computers having the ability to access the same files and is often thought of as a more affordable option to cloud storage when it comes to maintenance over time.

The great thing about the types of external storage in this video is that you’ve got loads of options at all levels, so you can scale the capacity, drive portability and size and transfer speeds to your budget and specific needs. If you have any further questions not answered in this video, please feel free to leave them in the comments and the Kingston team will do our best to answer them, but mainly I hope this video gave you a solid overview of the various types of external storage options out there and helped you on your way to finding the best solution for your needs.