SOLID-STATE DRIVES
With their higher cost per gigabyte, SSDs are internal storage disks that are best used in high-demand situations: as your OS drive and where you install your games and other applications. If you have multiple SSDs, use your fastest one for your OS; additional units can be used as secondary drives for apps and games. SSDs come in multiple types: there are models that connect to the Serial ATA (SATA) interface and look much like 2.5-inch internal hard drives, but there are also newer types that connect directly to a desktop computer’s PCI-Express (PCIe) slot, or plug into the newer M.2 socket in a similar fashion to RAM. You’ll need to carefully check what connectivity options your PC has before buying one.
INTERNAL HARD DRIVES (MECHANICAL)
The most common form of storage for desktop and laptop PCs, mechanical SATA drives come on two main physical forms (known as 2.5-inch and 3.5-inch) and these are best used for general storage: for media fi les and other large space-consuming content. Of course, they’re also perfectly serviceable if you want to run your OS, apps and games from them — but doing so will result in a less responsive experience than on an SSD.
EXTERNAL HARD DRIVES (MECHANICAL)
External hard drives take two main forms (portable and desktop) and are often just internal hard drives wrapped in a USB enclosure. Most commonly, they use the USB 3.0 interface, with the odd unit offering Thunderbolt or FireWire connectivity. They’re good for moving around very large fi les, performing system backups (if you don’t have a NAS) and you can even work on fi les directly from them if your PC doesn’t have much onboard storage, though doing so will generally be slower and less responsive than on an internal drive
WIRELESS HARD DRIVES
This newer category typically combines a portable external hard drive with a built-in Wi-Fi hotspot and battery, meaning you can take it on the road with you and connect directly with a laptop, or via dedicated apps for iOS and Android smartphones and tablets. In the latter two cases, the app is often what defi nes exactly what you can and can’t do on your mobile device — that can range from syncing your photos to streaming music and movies from the device.
NAS BOXES
A network-attached storage (NAS) device is something we reckon every home and small offi ce should have: it creates a convenient and affordable central storage location for sharing and backup. Accessed through your network (either wired or wireless), today’s NAS boxes can actually do far more than just store fi les — they can download from the net (and even BitTorrent), stream media fi les to your TV or games console, and some will even let you run your own cloud services, like remote photo backup or document editing. These are incredibly fl exible and powerful options, perfect for multi-user environments.
CLOUD STORAGE
Online (aka cloud-based) storage is great for quickly sharing small fi les, allowing anywhere access to critical content and backing up your photos on the go. Most services offer a small to medium allotment of free gigabytes (anywhere from 2GB to 100GB), then options to pay a subscription fee to add more. The limited upload speed of most Aussie broadband connections means that cloud storage is less fl exible than local options (uploading multi-gigabyte fi les through a 1Mbps ADSL uplink can take days, for example), so you do need to approach how you use it with that limitation in mind.
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