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Can I use a 4TB WD external hard drive with a powered up WITHOUT powering the hard drive with an adapter?

EDIT: Title should read: "Can I use a 4TB WD external hard drive with a POWERED USB HUB without powering the hard drive with an adapter"

Question is pretty straightforward: i want to expand my storage to include a 4 TB external HDD. I am using an Amazonbasics USB 3.0 powered hub with 4 slots. Will the powered hub be enough to power the 4TB Western Digital External without external power? I have no plugs left on my power strip to plug in another power adapter for a hard drive, and the 2TB HDDs work fine with the powered hub because they don't require any extra power.

Here's the WD hard drive. notice the port for DC power

I also see that Samsung offers a slim 4TB option similarly priced that apparently doesn't need external power. Maybe this is my best bet, but WD offers a 6TB option that, if would work with my hub, would be another thing I would consider buying.

While I've got you guys here: What's next for my storage needs? Should I be looking at a NAS? Right now I have an intel NUC acting as a "media server" for my laptop with external HDDs attached to the powered hub, and that's fine for NOW but as I keep maxing out storage I know I'm going to need a futureproof option. Preferably not too power consumptive, or technically complex.

Thanks guys!

Posted Aug 12, 2015, 3:34 PM UTC

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