Internal hard drives have more space than ever before. But obviously, we cannot keep pulling it out of our computer and taking it around with us when we travel. Nor can we insert it into anybody's computer each time we want to share something. A laptop is still not affordable for all and not suited for all situations. The portable hard drive has come up as the answer to such needs. The external hard disk is a plug and play device ? just like the tiny USB drive ? but with all the advantages of being a complete hard drive by itself. It is now possible to carry around 1 Terabyte of data in a small packet.



The Advantages of External Hard Drives

Let us first weigh the points in favour of external hard disks.

• The first advantage is space ? and this alone can be its winning streak. The portable hard drive is as good as the old desk top at home when it comes to storage space. For those who have to move around frequently with their data, have the laptop already, and still need more space, this is the answer to prayers.



• Its sheer ease of use is a boon that cannot be discounted. The rise in the demand for easy sharing of music and video files has been particularly facilitated by this gadget. Media files are huge in size when compared to data, and require both more storage space and good reproduction quality. If the DVD was an improvement on the CD in this regard, the portable hard disk is a great leap forward. It is definitely more secure than online sharing as well.



• Security, in fact, is a major advantage offered by the external drive. After all, it is sitting on the table physically outside the computer case. It can be disconnected at even a hint of an impending hardware failure. It can be scanned for virus prior to being plugged in, and disconnected immediately at the slightest warning. What is the use of creating a backup if that is going to be virus infested as well? The external hard disk has solved this problem. Our favourite songs and video clips can be downloaded from the net, scanned and then saved on the external hard drive in a ?clean? condition.



• Manufacturers of portable hard drives are competing with each other to make it more attractive. Some of them come with built-in antivirus, firewall and other security utilities. We can buy external hard disks with an OS already loaded, making it as actually like an independent computer by itself. Besides, there is a whole software package that comes with it, along with backup provisions so that automatic copies are created each time we work on a file.

The Disadvantages of External Hard Drives

There are some disadvantages too, but hopefully they can be remedied to a degree with time.

• The first hurdle is, of course, the price of the hard disks. The external hard drive is more costly than even USB drives. This issue will be solved only when larger scale of mass production starts off after the product has gained enough popularity in the market.



• Size is a factor for portable devices. A pen drive is, after all, tiny, light, and very convenient.

Data Loss from External Hard Drives

The easiest way to lose data from a portable storage media is by losing the device itself. Given below are some of the ways in which data can be lost from external disks.

• We are always open to data loss at any given point of time. A thunderbolt will not announce itself before striking our rooftop and sucking the data away. Yet, very few people give importance to creating a logical partition for automatic backup within their external drive. This is as important as the recovery disk of a laptop.



• Regular virus scans and updating of the given software is very important. The built-in software will get deactivated unless the registration is renewed within a given period of time.



• Like all other devices, the external hard disk is also susceptible to fire, water, heat, humidity, dust, shock, electric discharge and direct sunlight.



• We must be very careful while removing the hard drive. If we pull it out with the programme still running, we can't blame anyone else for the data that will disappear.