Storage and backup
SSDs, external drives and NAS without the marketing fog
Capacity, sustained writes, thermals, redundancy and recovery are separate decisions. A fast SSD is not a backup strategy.
The buying rule
Choose the failure you are trying to prevent before choosing a drive speed.
Search links are for the exact product family; confirm capacity, interface, heatsink and warranty on the retailer page.
Amazon UK search links are provided for current availability; no affiliate programme is currently configured, and no live price is claimed here. Affiliate disclosure.
01Samsung
990 Pro
A high-performance PCIe 4.0 NVMe direction for a primary desktop or workstation drive.
- Best for
- Fast project storage, games and demanding desktop workloads
- Watch out
- A faster drive cannot rescue a system with no backup or inadequate cooling.
Search Amazon UK (opens in new tab)Searches Amazon UK02Western Digital
WD_BLACK SN850X
A gaming-oriented NVMe option with a strong performance-to-capacity focus.
- Best for
- Game libraries and responsive desktop storage
- Watch out
- Check the heatsink version and motherboard clearance before ordering.
Search Amazon UK (opens in new tab)Searches Amazon UK03Crucial
Crucial T500
A mainstream high-performance NVMe alternative for new builds and upgrades.
- Best for
- General desktop upgrades and application storage
- Watch out
- Avoid paying for peak sequential numbers when the workload is mostly small files.
Search Amazon UK (opens in new tab)Searches Amazon UK04Synology
DiskStation DS224+
A small NAS direction for shared files, versioned backups and home services.
- Best for
- Central storage and household backup workflows
- Watch out
- The enclosure is only the beginning: budget for drives, backup copies and setup time. Synology also sells DS225+ with different networking — confirm current availability before treating DS224+ as the only plus-series two-bay.
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Keep exploring
The next decision is usually connected
Hardware works as a system. Follow the link that matches the constraint you still have not solved.