f you are using your computer for storing video files, photos, software, and games, there is a great chance to fill up your hard disk fast. You don’t have any choice to delete files as all files are important for you. The photos and videos are invaluable and fearing that ahead disk crash may spoil your entire effort. Then it is the right time to think about upgrading your hard drive or getting a backup drive. There are several ways to expand your computer storage space.
Upgrade hard drive
This is the first choice that I recommend to you. If you are having a 500Gb or 1 TB hard disk, it is the right time to choose a hard disk with capacities of 1 TB, 2TB, 4TB or more. The storage capacity depends on your needs. You can upgrade your laptop’s storage using a 1TB hard disk. If you need more space, better go for an external hard disk or personal cloud drive or a NAS drive.
Add an additional hard drive
If you are using a PC, and your computer case has enough storage to accommodate one more hard drive, it is advisable to purchase a hard drive with more capacity. You can simply add an additional hard disk by getting a SATA cable, then connect the hard disk to the motherboard and to the power connector. You can use Easeus partition software to partition your new hard disk.
Add an external HDD drive
If you are reluctant to add a more hard disk to your PC, or if you are using a laptop. The external hard disk is the right choice. The external hard disk comes with USB 3.0 ports and a one-click backup option to do or schedule an automatic backup plan to protect your files. The most external hard disk comes with automatic backup software and time machine compatibility (for Apple time machine) software to backup and protects files easily. Some hard drives offer built-in 256-bit hardware encryption and password protection. So you can set your own personalized password to keep your content private and safe. The ready to use external hard disk available in different flavours. The Western Digital offers My Book with capacity up to 10TB with WD backup software. Western Digital My Book Duo offers capacity up to 20TB with different RAID modes (RAID-0 as Default, Raid-1 -Mirrored, JBOD).
Personal File server
You can set up your own cloud server by getting a ready-made my cloud hardware or you can set up your own hardware. Western Digital has a My Cloud range of devices. You can access and share content anytime, anywhere over the internet connection. You can stream videos and photos to your DLNA connected devices. Some of them have built-in torrent clients to make the downloading easy. Buffalo LinkStation private cloud storage and Western Digital My Cloud Home personal cloud storage are some good personal cloud storage devices. This helps to save, organize and control all your videos, photos, music, and files in one place and wirelessly access it all from anywhere without the need of a computer. You can use the mobile and desktop app to upload, access and share your photos and stream your videos across different devices.
You can use your old computer as a storage computer by adding an additional hard disk to it. Install FreeNAS to it to store and access files across a network. FreeNAS is a storage operating system that can be installed on virtually any hardware platform to share data over a network. The FreeNAS with ZFS helps to protect, store, backup, all of your data in a safe place. If you don’t have an old computer, you can set up a cheap computer with enough storage bays to install FreeNAS. You can use a Pentium G series or i3 series CPU to set up a NAS and 8GB of minimum ram is required to install FreeNAS. You can check the Freenas hardware requirements.
Use a Network Attached Storage (NAS) device
The Network Attached Storage (NAS) offers centralized network storage for your files and access them from anywhere with computers or mobile devices. It comes with multiple RAID configurations and automatic backup options. It is equipped with automatic file syncing across all your computers for up-to-date access from anywhere. For enhanced data security, the volume encryption and password protection features are included. This device is meant for prosumers and creative professionals require more storage and multiple user access support. NAS devices support 32TB or more storage space. You can easily add high capacity hard disks. Western Digital My Cloud EX2, Synology NAS DiskStation, Netgear ReadyNAS are good NAS drives.
Use Online Cloud Storage
You can use online cloud storage services like Dropbox, Google Cloud Storage, box (10GB free), Flipdrive, Degoo, etc. You can store and access the file from anywhere. You don’t want to invest more on hardware and no need to safeguard it.
