Your business data is probably your most valuable asset. Client records, financial files, project work, contracts – losing any of it would be damaging. Losing all of it would be devastating. External storage, done properly, is a cornerstone of any sensible data protection strategy.
But “external storage” covers a huge range of options, from a £30 portable hard drive to a multi-terabyte NAS system costing thousands. Here’s how to think through what’s right for your business.
USB Drives and Portable Hard Drives
USB flash drives and portable hard drives are convenient for moving files between locations. But they’re not a backup strategy. They get lost, they fail, and they can be stolen. If your entire backup lives on a portable drive that goes home with someone, that’s a serious risk.
Use portable drives for file transport and convenience, not as your primary backup solution.
External Desktop Hard Drives
A desktop external hard drive sitting on a server or workstation is a step up. For very small businesses doing simple local backups, it’s an affordable starting point. The risk is that it’s in the same physical location as your main systems, so a fire, flood or theft could take out both your primary data and your backup simultaneously.
HDD vs SSD – Does It Matter for External Storage?
For backup drives where speed is less critical, a traditional HDD gives you much more storage per pound. For drives you’re actively reading and writing to frequently, or carrying around, an SSD is faster, more robust, and worth the premium.
NAS Drives – The Smart Choice for Business
A NAS (Network Attached Storage) device connects to your network and makes storage available to everyone. It’s the closest thing to a mini server you can buy without the server price tag. For businesses in Essex and Hertfordshire with teams sharing files, a NAS is often the right answer.
Good NAS units from Synology and QNAP include built-in backup software, RAID support for redundancy, and remote access features. Many will automatically back up to the cloud as a secondary copy, giving you a proper two-location backup without much configuration.
The 3-2-1 Backup Rule
The gold standard for business backup is the 3-2-1 rule: three copies of your data, on two different types of media, with one copy off-site. A NAS at the office plus a cloud backup service like Backblaze or Azure Backup gets you there cost-effectively.
We’ve seen too many businesses in London and Essex lose critical data because their backup was either not working or not complete. It’s worth spending a bit of time and money getting this right.
What to Buy
For most small businesses, a two-bay Synology NAS with two drives in RAID 1 (mirroring) is an excellent starting point. It’s reliable, the software is excellent, and Synology’s support is good. Add a cloud backup subscription and you have a solid, affordable data protection setup.
Browse our storage range, or read our NAS setup guide for step-by-step instructions. For current deals, see our deals page.
