Dish allows external USB HDs to be connected to all compatible units to expand allowable disk space. You can even use external USB drives with non-DVR Dish receivers to add DVR capabilities. My 750GB HD is full so I needed a solution for adding more and making it as painless as possible to change between them because the Dish receivers only recognize one external HD at a time when multiple HDs are connected. I added a&nbsp;<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/Western-Digital-My-Book-Essential-1-TB-USB-2-0-Desktop-External-Hard-Drive-WDH1U10000N/dp/B000VZCEUI/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">Western Digital My Book Essential 1 TB USB 2.0 Desktop External Hard Drive WDH1U10000N</a>&nbsp;and am using this hub along with a&nbsp;<a data-hook="product-link-linked" class="a-link-normal" href="/American-DJ-PC-100A-8-Channel-Power-Strip-with-Lighted-Toggles/dp/B0002GL50Q/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_rvw_txt?ie=UTF8">American DJ PC-100A 8 Channel Power Strip with Lighted Toggles</a>&nbsp;to turn on the drive I am using and power down the one(s) I am not. This set up leaves me room to add more HDs in the future. Works great!