Expand storage and backup

One method is to have one iTunes library, with your favorite music stored on your internal drive, so it's available when you're mobile, with the remainder stored on an external drive.

How to split a single iTunes library over two or more media locations

Freeing up space in Mac OS X

If you want to use an external drive for backups, it must be formatted as HFS+. I use Carbon Copy Cloner to make bootable clones, and have mine set to automatically backup whenever the external drive is connected. You can also set up a backup schedule.

You can simply import the photos into iPhoto from the external drive.

 

For a low-cost and flexible solution, consider one of these gadgets:

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_n...search-alias=aps&field-keywords=usb+sata+dock
(Many items shown, they all work the same, just pick one you like that's cheap)

Then, pick up one or more "bare" SATA drives from the vendor of your choice. Once in a while, you can even find someone who has an unused drive just lying around.

Put the bare drive in the dock, initialize it, then use it for backup or just "random storage".

You can even boot from the docked drive if necessary. A USB/SATA dock will become a very handy piece of hardware to have in your drawer or on your desktop.

 

CCC versions before 3.5 are free. Beginning with version 3.5, CCC is $39.95. The earlier version works fine on Lion and earlier. You only need 3.5 if you're on Mountain Lion.