There is already one loser in the battle between SSD and hard disk: the large 3.5-inch models. However, these solutions do not fall under the term external hard drives, as they are NAS (Network Attached Storage) devices. In principle, there are also external hard drive solutions that are connected to a computer via LAN or WLAN. With eSATA an external hard disk works as fast as an internal hard disk connected via SATA. All three interfaces offer the possibility to supply the connected devices with electrical power at the same time.Īnother interface for external hard disks is eSATA. Other common interfaces are Firewire and Thunderbolt. With USB 3.0 the achievable data rate is in the range of about 450 megabytes per second. Depending on the USB variant (2.0, 3.0, 3.1 or 3.2) certain data transfer rates are achieved. Very often USB interfaces are used to connect external hard drives. Some external hard disks are equipped with particularly robust housings that protect against moisture, magnetic fields or external forces, for example. High-quality external hard drives can also be designed as a RAID system and consist of several individual HDDs. For 3.5-inch hard disks, an additional external power supply unit is usually required. In addition, larger hard disks with higher storage capacity are available.Ģ.5-inch hard disks can often be supplied with the electrical power required for operation via the data interface. 3.5-inch hard drives are larger and heavier, but achieve higher write and read speeds. interface technology used (USB, Firewire, eSATA, Thunderbolt etc.),ĭepending on the diameter of the rotating magnetic disks used, whether 2.5-inch or 3.5-inch, the external hard drives have a certain size.The most important distinguishing features are: What are the differences between the features of an external hard drives?Įxternal hard disks can be distinguished according to various criteria. The hard disk technology is protected by a robust housing. Due to their small size, the devices are easy to transport and can be stored regardless of the computer’s location. The external hard disks can be used for external data storage or for data backups. However, due to lower prices and higher storage capacity, HDDs dominate the market for external hard disk drives. In principle, an external hard disk drive can also be a Solid State Drive (SSD), which stores data using semiconductor memory. Hard Disk Drive (HDD) with rotating disks and read/write heads. As far as storage technology is concerned, internal and external hard disks do not differ. The hard disk enables external storage of data and can be used for data backups, for example.Īn external hard disk is connected to a computer via an interface such as USB, Firewire, eSATA or Thunderbolt and, unlike an internal hard disk, is not operated inside the computer case but outside. Connect to your USB 3.0 port to get your data transfer faster done, if you need to transfer a lot data (>2GB)Īn external hard drive is a storage drive that is connected to a computer via an external interface such as USB, Firewire, eSATA or Thunderbolt and is operated outside the computer case. USB 2.0 has slower date transfer rates than USB 3.0. White light on your external Toshiba Hard drive means, that you are connected to your USB 2.0 port on your computer/laptop.USB 3.0 has faster data transfer rates than USB 2.0. Blue light on your external Toshiba Hard drive means, that you are connected to your USB 3.0 port on your computer/laptop.You connect your external Toshiba hard drive to your computer and suddenly it shows a blue light or white light sudddenly ? In this article we show you what it means and also explain how a hard drive works, which different features a hard drive has, what they mean and which features are the best