WD 4TB My Book Essential USB 3.0 Desktop Hard Drive

The 4TB My Book Essential USB 3.0 Desktop Hard Drive features a large 4TB of total capacity, USB 3.0 connectivity and a host of security features for your data. It also features automatic and continuous backup and although it is formatted in NTFS for Windows PCs, it can be reformatted for Mac.

With the USB 3.0 protocol, the sustained serial bus transfer rate can be as high as 5.0 Gbps (depending on hardware and software configuration of your PC) - but the My Book Essential can also be used with USB 2.0 connections, for a sustained serial bus transfer rate of 480Mbps. If you're using USB 2.0 but thinking about upgrading to USB 3.0, then this drive is future-proof. There's also security measures installed to provide password protection and hardware encryption to your files.

The transfer rate of USB 3.0 is about ten times faster than USB 2.0. Of course, that maximum transfer rate is dependent on your hardware and software configuration, and the architecture of the file.

The 4TB of storage is also appealing. That averages to about 307 hours of video, 800,000 photos or 1,000,000 songs. If you're looking for room to grow, file storage, or data backup, the 4TB My Book Essential external hard drive makes room for your clutter.