As others have mentioned, it would help to know what connectors you're looking to use. USB3 would be the slowest since your iMac only supports USB2 but you'll be ready for USB3 speeds whenever you upgrade. FW800 would be about twice as fast as USB2 but you'll be buying old technology on its way out the door.
I don't believe iMacs supported Thunderbolt back in 2010. That said, my recommendation would be drives. I've been a fan of Hitachi hard drives for awhile now, G-Tech has used them for years now and they own them now too. Super reliable drives and enclosures. Currently using a G-Drive slim (iTunes), G-Drive (Time Machine), and a G-Safe (external storage w/ RAID1) I'm not a fan of WD. WD's MyBook line, I don't find their enclosures built very well.
Sep 10, 2018 - Best external backup drive:WD My Passport 4TB[amazon.com]; Best. Unless you have an older Mac, there's really no need to invest in a. 1-16 of over 1,000 results for 'best backup drive for mac' Showing selected results. See all results for best backup drive for mac.
The drives last (you can take them out and continue to use them with a separate enclosure) but the enclosures have tended to die after about 2-3 years. Have owned 5 of them and they all died within that timeframe. If you don't need data redundancy, a standard G-Drive 2TB has USB3 and FW800 support. You can use it via USB2 or Firewire until you upgrade and then it will be ready for USB3 speeds. I'd recommend this for Time Machine, iTunes (since your purchases on iTMS should have cloud backups), non-critical data, or if you have an alternative backup solution (like Crash Plan). Otherwise, a 1TB G-RAID mini set in RAID1 mode. This device currently only supports USB2, FW800, and eSATA, but FW800 can be supported in the future with the Thunderbolt adapter.
Mines a pretty old FW800 but it is damned reliable, 2009 when I got it and saved my ass on numerous occasion. I use a Seagate Freeagent Desk 1.5TB. Never had any problems with it, used to have 3 partitions. Now just two.
Time Machine (about 1tb) and then just files (500mb to match my HD). So I can only recommend that or its successor! Maybe they do a thunderbolt one now?
Seen too many problems with WD drives that my friends have had so wouldn't advise them. Sorry to go against popular opinion.
They might be better by now but just my view. The 'best', no holds barred, is Amazon S3. Mine are G-Tech G-Drives and OWC enclosures holding whatever drives were rated well at the time I bought them. And IMHO, Time Machine isn't so much a backup system as it is a complete waste of time.
To measure performance, I looked at the raw data that Windows captures when you run the Windows System Assessment tool (WinSAT.exe). Mac run windows for free windows 10. The hidden performance costs What I found even more interesting was the decrease in performance that you get when you run Windows on Apple hardware.
They make it more difficult than it needs to be to migrate to newer/bigger drives, there's no good way to back up the TM backup drive without just doing complete drive images, and alternating b/t backup media is time-consuming. All it's good for is a false sense of security.
Remember, if you don't backup your backup, you might as well not have one. I have always loved for my back-up drive. I'm sure you could find a non-Thunderbolt one much cheaper now, as there must be older models around that are getting knocked down. What I love about it: • It needs no external power source.
Cannot emphasise how great this is. It will mean you back up more often because it's less hassle.
• It's small (easy to travel with) • It really is rugged Using SuperDuper you can create a bootable mirror from it, I usually partition mine to match my computer's main partition, then the rest of the drive I used to store video files, installers, etc. Also when I bought my latest one (they last years - but the rMBP's lack of Firewire necessitated an upgrade) I didn't bother to go with the SSD. Thunderbolt means that even the regular one is lightning fast, but also gives you 4x the space (or whatever) for the same price.