I have an old iMac, from 2011, that has a lot of pictures, music and personal files that I need to back-up. What can I use for external storage that will work with this iMac?

If you just want to back up/keep some old files and those may not be updated at this point, you could also just use the drag 'n drop method - just drag them to an external drive. If you are only intending for them to be archived, you don't need that much storage space; however, if you do want to use Time Machine and continue using it with a newer Mac, then you'll need a larger drive. Remember though that TM will start erasing old files when newer backups reach the drive's storage capacity. So, if you just want to keep them as is, I'd put them on a separate drive or partition so they are not accidentally erased.

And my choice of external drives are the Mercury Pros (or others) from OWC:

www.macsales.com

You can go with USB 2, but a 2011 iMac has FireWire 800 on it...

It is true that FireWire 800 is going to be faster than USB 2

• USB 2 = 480 Mbit/second = 60 MByte/second

• FW 800 = 800 Mbit/second = 100 MByte/second

If funds are unlimited, and speed is a concern, get a Fire Wire 800 drive.

But if this is for backup, and not regular data access, then faster really doesn't matter and may not be worth the extra cost.

Especially since Fire Wire (IEEE 1394) is pretty much a dead-end technology. In the future, it will be easier to transfer data from a USB drive - even a USB 2 drive - to a new Mac than from a Fire Wire drive.

Hi steelers-fan,

I always recommend the G-Technology G-Drive USB-C: https://shop.westerndigital.com/products/external-drives/g-technology-g-drive-usb-c-usb-3-1-hdd#0G05666-1

Choose a G-DRIVE that has at least 2 times your iMac's internal capacity.

Cheers,

Jack

In addition to what everyone else has said here:

I'm sure the suggestions for G-Drive and OWC drives are good.

But if you don't have any type of backup right now, and budget is a consideration, you can get a typical external USB drive - e.g., Seagate, Toshiba, Western Digital, etc. - for about half the price from places like Amazon, Costco, Sam's Club, etc. Maybe Wal Mart. I've even bought used external drives off of CraigsList (look under "for sale" -> "computer parts") when I needed something quick and cheap.

I'm sure somebody will tell me why the G-Drive or OWC is better. And they're probably right.

But if budget is a consideration, any backup as soon as possible is better than none now or a better one in the future.

Very true, but “any” backup on a cheap not so reliable drive is not that good when the drive fails. the problem with WD is their drives are ok, but their external enclosures are very cheap with the chipset easily failing. The chipset controls the connection and makes the external work (or not).

You usually get what you pay for.

a lot of pictures, music and personal files that I need to back-up

1. How much data are we talking about here?

2. What is the total size of your iMac's hard drive?

3. Have you looked at cloud-storage / cloud-backup?

Even if you want to consider cloud storage, I would always trust an external drive far more than trusting my private information to a nameless online server which can get hacked into.

And, by the way, no matter which drive you decide on: any drive will work with the Mac as long as its' cable(s)/ports work with the ports on your iMac. Don't use a Firewire because that is no longer on newer Macs - you can use it to transfer the data from your old Mac to the external. But, be sure it also has at least USB ports (USB 3 is the new norm - the older USB 2 was quite slow in comparison); having those will work with newer Macs.

G-Technology 1 TB $78 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07DK2LPDD/

G-Technology 2 TB $95 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07F8NG48L/

LaCie 1 TB $64 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07MFXYH5G/

LaCie 2 TB $80 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07NYFZMZL/

Make your own...

I get my drives from NewEgg

Platter

https://www.newegg.com/black-wd4005fzbx-4tb/p/234-000G-000W6

SSD

https://www.newegg.com/samsung-860-evo-series-1tb/p/N82E16820147673

You can go with USB 2, but a 2011 iMac has FireWire 800 on it...

3.5 size

httphttps://eshop.macsales.com/item/OWC/MOTGPWR/

2.5 size

https://eshop.macsales.com/item/OWC/MSTG800U3K/

Get a power adapter with this enclosure...

https://eshop.macsales.com/item/OWC/MOTGPWR/

I have the previous version, which have USB 2 and FireWire 400, loaded with a Western Digital platter drive...

Faster than USB 2.0

+1 on the OWC drives. Excellent choice and very reliable.

Use Time Machine to backup the computer, you will need an external HD. Something like the OWC Mercury Elite Pro is perfect. Get one that has about 2-3 times the capacity of the internal HD.