External Hard Drives
External Hard Drives covers USB storage you plug in rather than install: bus-powered 2.5-inch portable drives, larger 3.5-inch desktop units with their own power adapter, rugged models built for travel, and HP StorageWorks RDX removable-disk systems for small-office backup. Connections range from USB 3.0 Micro-B to USB-C. WD, Seagate, Toshiba, LaCie and SanDisk make up most of the range.
External Hard Drives: 390 products
Buying guide
Picking an external drive
Portable or desktop
Portable drives draw power over USB and are the easy choice for carrying data. Desktop drives hold more and run cooler for long copies, but need a wall socket.
Cable and port
A USB-C drive works on an older USB-A port with the right cable, at that port's speed. USB 3.0 and later is fast enough for most hard-drive work.
RDX for rotation
RDX uses a dock and rugged hard-disk cartridges you swap and take offsite, much like tape, which suits small offices without a tape budget.
External Hard Drives
Frequently asked questions
Do USB-C external drives work with older computers?
Yes, with a USB-C to USB-A cable. Transfer speed drops to whatever the computer's port supports.
What is an RDX drive?
A removable-disk backup system: an internal or USB dock plus shock-resistant hard-disk cartridges. You rotate cartridges and store them offsite, the way you would with tape.
