Benefits of Using External Storage

 

Gordon Moore first wrote what came to be known as “Moore’s Law” in 1965. He wrote that he expected that the number of transistors that could be fit into an integrated circuit (and thus the computing power) would double about every two years. While Moore’s Law has remarkably held pretty much true over all these decades, the same kind of thing has applied to external memory as well. The capacity of external memory has become ever greater and the cost has dropped significantly. Especially today, in light of the affordability and capacity of available external memory, it really pays to store your content outside your computer.

 

Back It Up!

Perhaps the most important reason for storing your files in external memory resources is to protect yourself against data loss from a system melt-down. Admittedly, the kind of total, data-wasting burn out that used to be not that uncommon years ago really is a bit rare these days. But things can still happen. Even spilling water on your computer or dropping it could cause an irreversible loss of data. Don’t forget that you’re always vulnerable to theft of the device. And these days, people put so much more – and more valuable – data on their computers that it just pays to have a back-up.

 

Bigger is Better!

As technology improves, file sizes keep getting bigger. People expect their computer software to do more and that added functionality takes up a lot more space. Just think about video alone. Just in the past few years, we’ve gone from “normal” definition video to 720p to 1080p to 4K. The video looks awesome but the files are huge. Store them externally and then you don’t have to worry about filling up your laptop hard drive.

 

Keep Your OS Running Fast

Especially on laptops, if you allow your computer to get absolutely jammed up with big files and with software that you rarely (or never) use, you are definitely going to see an impact on your performance speed. Keep your laptop “lean and mean.” Store the files you don’t really need very often externally and keep only the things you need all the time on your laptop.

 

Choices, Choices

So if you’re going to use an external form of storage, what kind should you choose? The good news is that there are affordable options for just about any scenario. Thumb drives these days have such large capacity that they can even accommodate movies. External hard drives now have terabyte capacity – and they’re not all that expensive. For the ultimate in convenience and accessibility, you can even store your data online using services like Dropbox that give you access to your files wherever you have an Internet connection.

 

If you have questions about data back-up – or if you have a data recovery crisis – come see us and let us help! Please feel free to contact us today!