If your photo library, video files, or game installs keep pushing your internal storage to its limit, an external hard drive is one of the cheapest ways to expand. The Seagate Expansion 22TB External Hard Drive gives you a serious chunk of headroom in a single desktop unit, currently discounted on Amazon. The drive connects to your computer via USB 3.0 and will immediately appear with no further installation required. Plus, with 22TB of space, you can back up your whole computer, media library, hundreds of games, and more.
A hard drive with plenty of extra space for all your files and photos
To put 22TB in perspective, you’re looking at thousands of hours of 1080p video, millions of photos, or hundreds of AAA game installs. Once you start splitting your files between an active drive and a long-term archive, even big internal SSDs run out fast. The Expansion is a desktop drive, so it stays plugged in at your workstation rather than traveling with you.
Getting started with this drive is easy. For Windows, you just have to plug it into a USB port, and you’re good to go. For Mac, you’ll need to format it first, but that’s the only extra step needed. It should be noted, though, that this drive requires an external power adapter. So, it’s not the most portable model around.
Performance is consistent with that of a standard 3.5-inch desktop hard drive. Transferring data at USB 3.0 speeds is suitable for backing up applications, storing media, or moving large numbers of files. You also don’t need any additional drivers on Windows systems to utilize this device. However, you won’t want to try to play the latest games or stream high-bitrate UHD video from it because it just can’t keep up with those demands.
Pairing the Expansion with a cloud backup service or a second physical drive protects against accidental deletion, drive failure, or system corruption. A single drive rarely amounts to a complete backup strategy, but at this capacity and price, it can serve as the primary target for system images and large media exports. Your daily-use files stay on your internal SSD for speed, while the Expansion holds everything else.
The Seagate Expansion provides 22TB of space on sale for $530, making it one of the most cost-effective consumer-grade storage solutions available right now. If you’re putting off regular backups because of the ridiculous prices hard drives fetch lately, now’s the time to consider picking one up before it’s too late.