The choice between a USB drive and an external hard drive depends entirely on the specific needs and preferences of the user. When selecting, it is important to consider important requirements such as storage capacity, speed, and budget to make the right decision.
While cloud storage and backup facilities are generally easy to use and provide instant access to data, there are several reasons why users still prefer an external hard drive. Not the least of these is security. Keeping sensitive data offline reduces the risk of it being targeted by an online attack. Using a cloud backup or cloud storage inevitably means sharing access with the third party responsible for providing hosting services. So if privacy and portability of data are of the utmost importance, opting for an external hard drive is a wise choice.
Regional Director – UK & Ireland, Kingston Technology EMEA.
The two most important external hard drives
Physical storage comes in a variety of options, but the two main types are high-speed USB flash drives and solid-state drives (SSDs). A USB flash drive is typically a small device that connects to a device using a dedicated USB port. These convenient and ubiquitous devices are easy to carry, even in a bag or pocket, and come in a variety of styles and sizes. They are easy to use and are now considered a necessary and inexpensive peripheral for storing files or transferring data between devices without a network connection.
An SSD is a standalone hard drive that is connected to the user’s device by a cable, also via the USB port. These drives feature non-volatile flash memory that can facilitate the storage of much larger amounts of data. We make them available in various sizes from 480 Gigabytes (GB) to models that can store up to 4 Terabytes (TB) of data.
Exploring the pros and cons – portability, capacity, performance
The choice between an SSD and a USB flash drive is entirely dependent on the storage and backup needs of the user. It is clear that a USB flash drive, due to its compact size, is ahead in terms of portability. They are so small that they are often used as branded marketing giveaways to hang on a key ring. In comparison, while most external SSDs can fit in a small bag and are considered portable, they are slightly heavier than a USB and are better suited for quickly reading and writing large amounts of data.
SSDs have a huge storage capacity, making them ideal for higher capacity storage needs. To put that into context, a single computer typically has 500GB of storage capacity, which can hold between 125,000 and 155,000 images. If an external SSD has a capacity of 4 terabytes – 8x the capacity of a standard computer – it can easily store millions of documents, images, video content, music files, and multiple other data files.
Although small in physical size, the capacity of USB flash drives is often larger than users think and can be sufficient for the vast majority of storage needs. We have models that allow for up to 1TB of storage, but the standard is 256GB.
Speed and performance are always important factors to consider when it comes to storage, and SSDs are widely regarded as the fastest external drive option, which also helps to provide efficiency gains for users who need fast access to data. However, the gap between SSDs and USB drives has narrowed with the advent of USB 3.0 models that offer accelerated read/write speeds.
Neither SSDs nor USB flash drives have moving parts, which makes them both durable. However, SSDs have a longer lifespan and are resistant to shock and vibration, while USB flash drives are better suited for shorter, less demanding use.
When it comes to price, USB flash drives are typically cheaper than external SSDs, making them the most affordable option. However, if users have demanding storage and backup needs, an external SSD offers the most cost-effective option in the long run. There are also savings to be made across different SSD models depending on usage. SSDs that deliver up to 1050MB/s read and 1000MB/s write are around £60 cheaper than those delivering up to 2000MB/s read and 2000MB/s write in our range.
USB Flash Drive Usage Scenarios
For storing and transferring files, documents, photos and videos, these drives are hard to beat. They have the capacity to carry portable applications, such as anti-virus or productivity software, so they can be transferred between computers, or presentations can be given easily and securely in meetings. USB flash drives are often used as bootable drives and can store system recovery tools to help troubleshoot problems and restore operating systems, and are used as a physical key to secure access to computers and software. They are simple and affordable, making them ideal for distributing files to colleagues.
External SSD usage scenarios
When transferring large files or backing up large amounts of data, SSDs are a faster option. Professional photographers, videographers, graphic designers, and architects can store and edit high-resolution media files and 3D modeling graphics with SSDs, thanks to their fast read and write speeds. Gamers often use SSDs to expand storage for games, helping to reduce load times and improve gaming performance. To aid in disaster recovery, SSDs are ideal for full system backups, but they can also be used as bootable drives for operating systems. Due to their high capacity, SSDs can store and stream larger volumes of high-quality multimedia content, including 4K video and high-resolution audio files directly. They are also a popular option for caching frequently accessed data, speeding up database performance and server operations.
Resume
Both forms of external drives offer secure storage and backup. While USB flash drives offer affordability, flexibility and convenience in any professional, educational and personal environment, external SSDs offer fast, robust storage for more demanding data-intensive requirements across multiple use cases.
We list the best portable SSDs.
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