A reader asks: “Does it still make sense to buy external hard drives in the cloud era?”

Reader Simone Paciaroni* asks: “Does it still make sense to buy external hard drives in the cloud era?“

I think so, yes. But not instead of cloud storage — with cloud storage.

Local storage gives you immediate access to everything, regardless of the size or number of files you’re accessing. When you’re dealing with terabytes of storage, or trying to process very large files, local storage will almost always win in terms of speed and convenience.

Local storage also doesn’t make you dependent on a long chain of extra tech — LANs, WiFi, ISPs, the internet at large, remote cloud providers, remote servers, etc. — to be able to get at your data. With local storage, as long as your PC and hard drive are working, your data is available to you even during times when communication is out or your cloud-provider goes dark, for some reason.

On the other hand, cloud storage shines in protecting your files from purely local problems (say, your PC is damaged or stolen — your cloud data remains intact); and in facilitating sharing between and among dispersed systems.

I think the two together — a mix of local storage with cloud copies/backups — lets you combine the best of both. You have fast access and full control over your local files; with the assurance that copies are safely available, even in the event of local catastrophe.

So, yes! External drives still make great sense for fast, reliable local storage — especially when you combine them with the safe, offsite backups that cloud storage provides.

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