How do hard drives work?

Whether you’re a hardworking professional, a photography enthusiast, or a current college student, a great hard drive can solve all your storage needs. A hard drive (sometimes called a hard disk drive) stores all kinds of digital content, either inside your computer or as a separate device.

Hard drives inside your computer typically use an interface called SATA to access and store data within your device. External hard drives connect to your computer using some kind of cable, such as a USB 3.0 cord. Both internal and external hard drives can be compatible with Mac computers or PCs.

PC hard drives

Mac hard drives

SATA hard drives

USB hard drives

USB 3.0 hard drives

What size hard drive should I buy?

Hard drives vary widely in the amount of storage space they offer. While casual users may need just 500GB or 1TB of storage, people with a ton of files or advanced computing requirements will want many times more. Thankfully, you can buy as much as 16TB of storage, with plenty of options in between.

500GB hard drives

Seagate 1TB hard drives

What are some of the best hard drive brands?

To store your precious data, choose a brand with a trusted track record. We carry many excellent hard drive options, but you can start your search with these respected companies.

LaCie hard drives

Seagate hard drives

Western Digital hard drives

Toshiba hard drives