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"Back in the day" of floppy drives, backing up a hard drive and transferring files between desktop computers bordered on insanity. These days, when we want to transfer data from one computer to another, we have the external hard drive.
An external drive, when it comes down to it, is simply a hard drive (yes, the same kind that is in your computer) packed inside an external case. The basic types are: mobile, desktop and network.
Mobile drives are small (they usually contain a hard drive that is found in a laptop) and can usually run just off the computer's power, however they also tend to cost more and have smaller capacities than desktop drives.
Desktop drives usually contain a hard drive the same as those found in a desktop computer. Though larger than mobile drives, they cost less per gigabyte and have a much larger capacity. However, because of their larger physical size and their need for a wall socket to draw power, they tend to be placed somewhere on a computer desk - and stay there.
Another type of drive is the NAS, or Networked Attached Storage external drive. Because of their specialization and usually very large size, they tend to have a higher cost than either a typical mobile or desktop drive. The advantage to this type of drive is that once set up, anyone on a network can access the data stored on the drive simultaneously - thus doing away with the need to have a drive for each user.
Drive Interfaces
Another aspect of an external hard drive that can vary is the interface. By far, the most popular interface is USB 2.0. USB ports are found on just about every computer made. USB 2.0 is rated at 480 mbps (megabits per second.)
FireWire is another interface used on almost all Macs and some PC's. FireWire 800 is rated at 800 Mbps. FireWire is designed differently than USB, and will deliver, on average, better throughput than USB 2.0. FireWire is an ideal solution for those looking for faster performance from an external drive.
An RJ45 Ethernet interface is used on drives that are designed to be attached to a network and be used as a shared drive. Low cost NAS units can be found for home networks and Gigabit units are designed to run up to 1000 Mbps (but are backwards compatible with slower networks).
When buying an external hard drive for backup, make sure that what you purchase comes with backup software. The software that comes with Windows is less than ideal. Mac OS X Leopard has "Time Machine" built in, which is an excellent backup program.
Whether for backup or file transfer, adding an external hard drive to your computer is an idea that just makes sense! If you need help deciding what to buy, call us! | 
