Backup Comparison: External Hard Drive vs Cloud Storage

To avoid the severe consequence of data loss, it is vitally important for us to backup data. Some people choose to backup their data to external hard drive while others prefer to cloud storage. So, what are the benefits of cloud storage vs hard drive and usb flash drive storage? This post will compare the pros and cons of external hard drive vs cloud storage and give you some suggestions on which one to choose for your backups.

External hard drive

Advantages

Sufficient storage and less cost. Most cloud service providers offer free cloud backup space ranging 2-50GB but it is insufficient for most people. You need to pay a monthly fee for larger storage. For example, Google Drive subscription fee for 2TB is $9.99/ month while a 2TB HDD only costs $50. So relative to cloud storage, portable storage is so cost-effective in a long run.

Fast speed. Due to USB 2.0 and 3.0 technology, storing data on external hard drives is much faster than uploading data to the cloud. It will waste much time to upload a large amount of data to cloud storage with a slow Internet connection.

Disadvantages

High risk of data loss. External hard drives need to be carried around, which poses a risk of loss and theft. What's worse, once your external hard drive is broken or suffers from natural disaster, your data will be lost permanently.

Scalability. When it comes to scalability, portable storage has a fixed capacity and if you need to more space to back up in the future, the only choice is to purchase a new hard disk. Relative to portable storage, cloud storage is so flexible that you can adjust the premium plan according to your need.

Recommendation

If you need to store a small amount of data, a usb flash drive is a pretty good choice. For a large amount of data, HDD is an optimal choice rather than SSD because HDD possesses better cost performance and lifespan. When it comes to back up data to external hard drive, here I recommend a reliable partition and disk clone tool named CloneGo that enables you to backup Windows system, partitions as well as the entire hard disk to SSD/HDD without any data loss.

Download: CloneGo

Cloud storage

Advantages

Access anywhere and anytime. It is one of noticeable features of cloud storage. You can easily access the data anywhere and anytime with an internet connection, which can avoid the trouble of carrying an external hard drive.

Sharing and collaboration. Since the data is backed up online, it is very convenient to share the files with others. In addition, most popular cloud storage providers offer a feature of real-time collaboration, which allows several people to collaborate on one project together in real-time.

Disadvantages

Must be online and limited transfer speed. Cloud storage is convenient to access anywhere and anytime, but it is inaccessible once your device is offline. What's worse, the transfer (upload & download) speed of cloud storage is limited, which depends on the speed of Internet connection, whereas the transfer speed of external hard drive is much faster.

Potential risk of hacking. The cloud storage providers have been deploying advanced encryption standards that ensure your data is security at all times. However, there will be always a risk of being hacked or compromised once your data is backed up on cloud storage.

Recommendation

There are dozens of cloud storage services available. For security, it is recommended to choose the reputable cloud storage providers such as Google Drive and Onedrive. In terms of comparing cloud storage (Google Drive, Onedrive, Dropbox, and iCloud) vs external hard drive, all of these cloud services are worth recommending. More recommendations can be referred to this post: Best cloud storage services in 2020.

Bottom Line

Overall, external hard drive vs online storage both have their advantages and disadvantages and which one to choose depends on your actual needs and habits. For more security, it is highly advisable to backup data to both external hard drive and cloud storage.