Who more or who less, everyone needs to have a backup copy of their files, since saving your important documents on a computer and that it crashes can bring catastrophic results. In this article we are going to recommend what in our opinion are the best external hard drives to back up your files, taking into account their capacity, speed and above all reliability, since no one wants a backup to spoil. truth?
A backup or backup consists of duplicating, either through a backup system or simply making a literal copy of the files, in another different storage medium with the aim that if the main storage is lost or damaged, you can always dip into the backup so you don’t lose anything. For this you have options in the cloud, of course, but there is nothing safer than having it on a physical device that only you have access to.
The best external 3.5 ″ hard drives for backup
Let’s see the best options for external hard drive for backup in 3.5-inch format. All these hard drives are connected by USB (or otherwise we will specify) and need additional power to function, that is, they are more intended to be “fixed drives” than to carry them from one place to another.
LaCie d2 Professional
LaCie is a brand owned by Seagate that is generally associated with Apple devices because of their Thunderbolt connection. In this case we are facing a unit with USB-C connectivity (compatible with Thunderbolt 3) that is perfectly suitable for PC, and that provides a speed of up to 240 MB / s according to the manufacturer. It is available with capacities of 4, 6, 8, 10 and up to 14 TB.
Seagate Expansion Desktop
As the name suggests, this is an external hard drive designed to double as an additional drive on a desktop PC. It provides speeds of 160MB / s for both read and write depending on the manufacturer, and is available in sizes ranging from 1TB to 10TB, in all cases with USB 3.0 connectivity.
WD Elements Desktop
This is WD’s best-selling external hard drive, and for a reason. It has USB 3.0 connectivity, and although the manufacturer does not say what speed it offers, it is about 150 MB / s for both reading and writing. It is available in capacities ranging from 1TB to 18TB, with all capacities in between these values.
Seagate Backup Plus Hub
The name of this hard drive says it all: backup and hub. It is available in capacities ranging from 4 to 16 TB, with a USB 3.0 connection and has two additional USB 3.1 ports to connect other devices to it. Its theoretical speed is 120 MB / s.
Western Digital My Book
This is another of the manufacturer’s best-selling hard drives, and has the particularity of having a web interface to manage its content as if it were a NAS. It has a USB 3.0 connection, offers speeds of up to 150 MB / s and is available in sizes ranging from 3 to 14 TB in the format that you see in the image above, but it is also sold in a double hard disk format in RAID with up to 36 TB capacity.
The best 2.5 ″ external hard drives for backup
Although for a backup it is not highly recommended to carry the hard disk from one place to another, the 2.5 ″ external disks have the particularity that they do not need additional power and therefore they simply work with a single USB connector, thus that are much more comfortable to use.
LaCie Rugged Mini
This small hard drive boasts of being one of the most resistant, and it comes with an anti-shock silicone case for it. It has a USB 3.0 connection with a theoretical speed of 130 MB / s, and is available in capacities ranging from 1 TB to 5 TB.
WD Elements
This is a pretty basic external drive actually, but we included it in the list because it is also one of the cheapest you can buy. It has a USB 3.0 interface, reaches 120 MB / s speed and is available in capacities up to 5 TB.
Toshiba Canvio Gaming
We finish with this Toshiba disk that is intended to be expanded storage in consoles but which of course works perfectly as a backup hard disk. It has a USB 3.0 interface, reaches 120 MB / s and is available in capacities ranging from 1 to 4 TB.