Automatically back up your data with this 12TB external HDD for just $198

Keep your files safe with minimal effort. (Image credit: WD)

Even though World Backup Day has come and gone, it's no reason to stop thinking about keeping your data safe on a continued basis. That is, unless you have an automatic backup routine in place, like the one you can configure with this WD Easystore 12TB external hard drive.

It's on sale for $197.99 at Best Buy, down from its $279.99 list price. That works out to less than two cents per gigabyte, plus whatever value you put on the peace of mind you get with automatic backups, to keep your important files safe from disaster.

Using WD's Discovery utility, you can configure the external HDD to backup your data on a set schedule, be it an hourly one, or daily or monthly. It essentially turns what would otherwise be a manual chore into a set-it-and-forget affair.

Depending on how much data you want to back up, it could take a while to finish (I'd recommend having it run at a time when you're not using your PC). It connects via USB 3.0, so the theoretical max bandwidth is 5Gbps, not accounting for overhead.

In short, this amounts to cheap bulk storage that will happily take over backup chores for you.

Paul has been playing PC games and raking his knuckles on computer hardware since the Commodore 64. He does not have any tattoos, but thinks it would be cool to get one that reads LOAD"*",8,1. In his off time, he rides motorcycles and wrestles alligators (only one of those is true).