Best External USB Storage Device (SSD Drive)
SAMSUNG T7 Portable SSD 1TB
Bought this on 2021-02. After some research. Excellent.
2024-08-04 update. After using it for 3 years as backup drive. I still recommend it.
- I have USB 3.1, not USB 3.2, so i don't have the 1050MB/s speed.
- However, this is cheaper than the previous Samsung version for USB 3.
- Some say this gets hot.
- Maybe so when used on USB 3.2.
- But not when used on USB 3.1 on my machine.


Up to 1050MB/s - USB 3.2 External Solid State Drive, (MU-PC500H/AM)
Used via USB 3.1
Buy at amazon
SAMSUNG BAR Plus 256GB USB 3.1 Flash Drive
Bought this on 2024-07-29, after checking with a friend lunarus who's expert on gaming devices.

- SAMSUNG BAR Plus 256GB - 400MB/s USB 3.1 Flash Drive Champagne Silver (MUF-256BE3/AM)
- Buy at amazon
there is a usb-c version:

Seagate Backup Plus Ultra Touch
Why is it Called Drive?
Now, what's the etymology of drive in hard drive?
In the 1990s we have have floppy disks, because it is disk shape and it is floppy. Then, the reader device is a drive, as in drive mechanism, because it needs to spin the disk. Then, comes hard disk, hard cuz it's not floppy. Then, abridgment, we got just hard drive. Then, just drive, as in, external drive. But, today's external drive don't really have spinning disk so actually no drive mechanism. More fitting term today is storage device, and external storage device.
Solid State Drive (SSD) vs Spinning Hard Disk Drive (HDD). Which Store Data Longer?
Am thinking getting a backup drive that won't lose data after 2 years non-use.
After some research on flash drive vs hard disk, for small backup expecting to last at least 3 years, it's kinda mixed bag. No absolute say which is better. Rather, you want to shop for expensive high quality ones, either tech.
Reformat Drive, and Which File System to Use
For a technology nerd, I recommend to always to reformat your drive after you bought it.
As of 2021, i recommend:
- NTFS โ if you use it on Windows machines only.
- exFAT โ if you need to use the device on macOS or Linux.
- If you only use on Mac, then format it with APFS.
- If you only use on Linux, then format it with whatever is current linux default.