Technology has made leaps and bounds throughout the last decade. So many activities can occur from our phones, computers, tablets, and even TVs. With everything now being stored digitally it’s easy to overlook backing up and storing important documents and photos. Surprise computer malfunctions and heavy data use are a part of everyday life. Having an external hard drive allows you to store your important information somewhere safe and portable, and they have memory options that are perfect for all storage needs.

Though we should all be in the habit of backing up and saving our work, it still stands to happen that a computer or phone will fail us. An external hard drive is about the size of a small tablet, and can hold over 1 terabyte of information. They hook up to an electronic device through a USB cable, commonly used with a mouse, or to charge a phone. External hard drives have quick upload speeds, allowing you to move files from place to place without waiting around. This makes saving information fast and user friendly.

As far as portability, you can take an external hard drive anywhere. Because they’re light and compact, they can fit into a purse, backpack, or drawer very easily. The combination of storage size and portability make an external hard drive great for a college student, serious gamer, or business professional.

External hard drives are a wonderful alternative to flash drives, or USB sticks. Though these products are also portable and user friendly, they don’t offer anything in the way of added security. The majority of external hard drive manufacturers also include a service to store your information in a protected digital cloud as well, making your information easily accessible. Whether you need more storage, to be safe with your information, or have to move your data around, external hard drives are the go to device for managing information that is important to you.