Modern technology is described as currently being on the threshold of a significant evolution of data storage in professional and consumer environments. Advancing technology has increased performance in the form of terabyte portable hard drives. Drive capacities are skyrocketing in contrast to a downward spiral of costs of hard drives. This has propelled manufacturers to produce thinner but faster portable hard drives which are able to store more data in less space. In other words, manufacturers today have added an extra number of magnetic disk platters enabling the portable terabyte hard drive to save more data as compared to standard-sized platters.
Terabyte Portable Hard Drives
- Expensive to buy
- Provides low-cost and high-density solutions – minimising data loss and disk damage
- Used on Firewire and USB devices including RAID arrays
- Sustained data storage rates of 250 MB per second – good backup devices
- Saves more than 36 terabytes into a 5U enclosure – storing huge chunks of data in compact finite spaces
- But cannot be used as a dependable source of backup -- inadequate cooling of hard drive including low drive life
- Risk of disk damage due to movement – slight jars, drops, and scratches can corrupt the portable hard drive
Imation Portable Micro Hard Drive: It is the current technologically advanced portable hard drive used in industries. It is preferred to tape drives as it packs more data on to limited space. Though expensive, it lends itself to easy access and is available at all supermarkets.
Features:
- A portable, durable disk that can be easily handled
- Contains a useful synchronisation tool for keeping things such as word documents, Excel files and presentations secure and handy on the drive itself and also on the original computer hard drive – enables the user to have two automatic backups
- Large 4GB capacity with free security inlaid mechanisms
Seagate FreeAgent Pro: This portable hard drive is built on the assumption that consumers fundamentally look for storage backup media which are reliable having large storage capacity. In addition, one has to realise that portability and pricing are the twin components swaying customers over the choice of backup media. As such backup media in the form of hard drives cannot offer consumers anything different. But portable hard drives do come into the market with varying storage backup solutions. Seagate Freeagent Pro is a powerful compact portable hard drive.
- Comprehensive backup management application allowing the user to schedule backups for different times
- Allows for synchronising multiple copies in more than one media format
- Provides online storage space of more than 500 GB making it an ideal backup media
- Allows for automatic file verification
Portable hard drives combine all the softwares used in other storage devices including the RAM and flash memory. Portable hard drives improve upon this existent software making the drive magnoresistant i.e. resistant to electro-magnetic hacking and disturbances. This provides the drive with additional data storage security making it robust and quick. This consequently increases its ability and usage as a backup. But like every machine, the portable hard drive too is plagued by inconsistencies and drawbacks. Though it has a larger storage capacity, it is unable to overwrite or modify backed up or saved data. Thus, the lack of modification function raises questions about its reliability. Once a user has backed up data on the portable hard drive, changes and modifications cannot be made to the data. Further, these portable hard drives carry with them the disadvantages of a portable storage media. They cannot be used on every system – they are compatibility-specific. In short, a user cannot read an imation portable hard drive on a terabyte computer. Usually, portable hard drives can be easily read on Windows and RAID arrays limiting their functional and usage ability.
These drives are expensive and can only be used by business enterprises. This limits the audience using the portable hard drives. In addition, they have to be maintained carefully. They are extremely sensitive to harsh temperatures – heat, light and humidity levels have to be controlled. It is imperative to regularly dust the portable hard drive of any microscopic pollutants. Thus, purchasing and maintaining portable hard drives are a tough proposition. Nowadays, portable hard drives are being manufactured as small smart chips. These smart chips are being inputted in travel cards. But the smart chip works slowly and cannot be used as a reliable backup. The smart chip starts to lose its magnetic attraction affecting its ability to save more data. This usually happens when the smart chip is kept away from radio magnetic frequencies. It means that the reliability and storage ability of portable hard drives are dependent on magnetic waves. The smart chip is described as a non-volatile device and can be effectively used in other media of mp3 players and cameras.
Computer Forensics (also known as Digital Forensics) experts can track malicious damage and theft caused to hard drives.