External Drive Advice, Please...

JimJ40

JimJ40

JimJ40

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26 Mar 2021
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I haven't built a PC since the late 90s and I'm having trouble finding what I, or actually my wife, needs.

I'm considering a mini PC running Win 10 from an internal 512GB SSD but that isn't big enough for all her data (she's a university professor so has to store coursework, exam results etc for 200+ students as well as her own research, textbook writing etc). So I'm looking at a 1TB external SATA drive but I'm a little concerned about transfer speed.

So my question is: can anyone recommend a good external drive for this kind of configuration? An ancillary question is whether there are any recommendations for a mini PC with sufficient oomph to run 2 monitors and fairly demanding software like MatLab etc.

Unfortunately we live abroad so, courtesy of Brexit, buying from OVC is probably a no-no....sorry! :(
 
Because i am not aware of the software you are referring to
I can only give my opinion in regards to storage standards
If it is important data get a cloud back-up software and set it up to back up the drive daily
External hard drives might last years or be dead from a drop
External ssds like the samsung t5 1Tb portable ssd can be had for 110-120 pounds
 
Most cases have room for another SATA SSD. If you're concerned there are plenty of SATA SSD's which are reasonably priced and wouldn't be a risk of slow transfers or the hazards of external devices.

This 1TB SSD is only £~80. Most PC cases, even the smallest ones, tend to have room for one additional SSD.

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/wd-b...-solid-state-drive-wds100t2b0a-hd-54j-wd.html

If you do want a external drive, then either something like the Samsung T5 is in order.
Or you could buy a USB SATA SSD adapter like this one:

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/kolink-2.5-sata-iii-usb-c-3.1-external-enclosure-black-hd-002-kk.html

And put a drive like the one above in it.
 
So i guess the first questions that spring to mind are;

How mini is mini?
Why external and not internal?

You want a computer that can handle 2 monitors, hold a good amount of data AND work in MATLAB - a demanding computing platform. Realistically if you want all of those things, you need to be looking at a Mini / Micro-ITX build.

You might have looked at an Intel NUC such as the NUC10i5FNKPA, and that MIGHT work, but you'd need to hope that the thunderbolt can output to a second screen, the RAM would be the minimum recommended and you'd be running a USB3 external drive, which would be fine.

So I'd say either the NUC10i5FNKPA paired with something like a WD My Book as your minimum might cut it.

Alternatively, something like this;

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/ocuk...q_DRiGplY61xVdlyb0YxMtTtZ1eG-PiqWA#t=b1c3d1e+

Note how cheap it is to upgrade the internal drive from 1tb to 2tb. Worth considering.
 
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