Totally Baffled M.2?

[WoZZeR]

Hi guys

I am going to soup up my Christmas Present (Raspberry Pi 4) with an external SSD via the USB 3 ports.

Tinier is better and not blocking the ports as they are all next to each other is essential.

I thought M.2 would be the way to go but the nomenclature on the drives themselves and the 'pendrive' cases is baffling.

In short what SSD am I looking for?

 

[Undesirable]

I think you're looking for something like the SanDisk Extreme Portable NVMe SSD.

M.2 is an internal card type form factor to attach to motherboards.

USB-C is obviously an example of the external, portable interface you're after.

 

[andy_mk3]

Check out this page: https://jamesachambers.com/raspberry-pi-4-usb-boot-config-guide-for-ssd-flash-drives/

A list of known working USB drives and M.2/SATA adapters. I'm doing exactly the same myself right now

 

[WoZZeR]

Cheers for the replies.

The James Chambers link is excellent, it looks like I should opt for a low power NVMe drive like the WD Blue to keep to the Pi Power Supply.