What Is an External Hard Drive ?

A couple years back, a research team led by Andrea Morello presented their progress in storing information on a single atom. The information is stored in different quantum states of the particle, as opposed to entire charged “packs” of particles as it is in transistor electronics.

While there are many obstacles in storing the information for longer periods as of now, many multi-billion companies, such as Google and Microsoft are investing in the research. So at some point in the future, we might all have what is now considered a supercomputer in our back pockets.

Quantum storage not futuristic enough? Try hologram storage!Holo storage would store information in charged fields of matter, similar to how it is done now, but these packs of particles would be arranged in such a way that much more information could be stored in one place

Still not impressed? How about DNA storage? While this might be a normal form of data storage in the far, far future, the potential is definitely there. Specialists in the field predict that a teaspoon of pure DNA strands could hold all the data we have created thus far in human history! But same as before, accessing it is an unimaginably hard challenge.

Still not impressed? How about DNA storage? While this might be a normal form of data storage in the far, far future, the potential is definitely there. Specialists in the field predict that a teaspoon of pure DNA strands could hold all the data we have created thus far in human history! But same as before, accessing it is an unimaginably hard challenge.

That’s our list of the 25 facts about hard drives you may not have known. Have more interesting facts that were not here? Leave them in the comments below!

An external drive is just a hard drive (HDD) or solid-state drive (SSD) that is connected to a computer on the outside rather than on the inside.

Some external drives draw power over their data cable, which of course comes from the computer itself, while others may require an AC wall connection to derive power on their own.

One way to think of an external hard drive is as if it were a regular, internal hard drive that has been removed, covered in its own protective casing, and plugged into the outside of your computer.

Internal hard drives can even be converted into external hard drives via what's called a hard drive enclosure.

External hard drives are sometimes called portable hard drives. A flash drive is one common, and very portable, type of external hard drive.

External hard drives are sometimes called portable hard drives. A flash drive is one common, and very portable, type of external hard drive.

External hard drives are portable, easy to use, and can provide a large amount of storage whenever you need it. You can store the actual device any place you like, and carry a large number of files with you wherever you go.

Another advantage of owning an external drive is that you can move them from computer to computer, making them great for sharing large files.

Because of their usually large storage capacities (often in the terabytes), external hard drives are often used to store backed up files. It's common to use a backup program to back up things like a music, video, or picture collection to an external drive for safe keeping, separate from the originals in case they're accidentally changed or deleted.

Even if not used for backup purposes, external hard drives provide an easy way to expand your existing storage without having to open up your computer, which is especially difficult if using a laptop.

Even if not used for backup purposes, external hard drives provide an easy way to expand your existing storage without having to open up your computer, which is especially difficult if using a laptop.

If your computer is always giving you low disk space warnings or is sluggish because it's working hard to keep things running on the little bits of free space it has left, it's probably time to get an external hard drive so that you can copy some of your files to it and free up storage on your primary hard drive.

External hard drive can also be used to provide additional storage to an entire network

These kinds of network storage devices can be accessed by numerous users at once and often serve as a way for users to share files within a network to avoid emailing or uploading the data online.

Internal hard drives are connected directly to the motherboard, whereas external storage devices first run through the outside of the computer case, and then directly to the motherboard.

Operating systems and software installation files are generally installed to internal drives, while external hard drives are used for non-system files, like photos, videos, documents, and files of those types.

Internal hard drives draw power from the power supply inside a computer. External hard drives are powered either through their data cable or via dedicated AC power.

Data can be compromised much easier if it's stored on an external hard drive because they're generally located on a desk or table, making them very easy to pick up and steal.

This is different than an internal hard drive where the entire computer has to be taken, or the hard drive removed from the inside, before someone can have physical access to your files.