Of course, how cheap depends on the capacity you need (determined by how much data you need to backup), and quality. With that said, here are the distinct advantage of using them for backups: Flash drives can be perfectly adequate for backing up your important data and they’re infinitely better than nothing at all. As mentioned earlier, they’re not ideal but if you don’t wish to invest in a true backup solution they’re fine. There are a number of advantages to using a flash drive as a backup device. Advantages of using a flash drive for backup In this case, the physical limitation would cause a problem before the number of write-cycles performed would become an issue. ![]() In terms of reliability when using a flash drive as your main backup, if you were to perform a backup of your computer each day, the 1500 connection design would fail after a minimum of around four years. You would likely notice things getting a bit looser each time, allowing you time to copy the contents from the drive and replace it with a new one. This isn’t really a critical failure, however. This sounds a lot in theory but if you were to connect/disconnect a flash drive 10 times a day (as may be common in an office environment), it would technically wear out in less than six months. the type used on most flash drives) should be able to be inserted and removed at least 1500 times. The USB standard states that USB type A (i.e. This makes for a convenient connection but means that each time you insert or remove your flash drive, you’re slightly distorting the profile of the plug and socket. The tolerances of the USB standard are such that the USB plug is held on all sides by friction from the USB socket. Something that’s often overlooked is that USB devices are held in place purely by the gripping force between the plug and its receptacle. 2) The number of times you insert and remove your flash drive into a USB port. ![]() Flash drives that use SLC technology can handle around 100,000 write cycles. If you need your drive handle more than 5000 writes then you need to make sure it employes SLC (single-level cell) technology. running an operating system from it), then 5000 writes will probably be sufficient. Unless you are doing something a bit different with your flash drive (e.g. ![]() The majority of flash drives are manufactured using MLC (multi-level cell) technology, meaning they can typically be written to, up to 5000 times. There are a couple of ways a flash drive can wear out over time: 1) The number of writes performed on the drive.ĭepending on the type of flash memory used in the drive, they can be written to between 3000 – 100,000 times. To get a more accurate picture, let break this down more scientifically. If you’re going to write some data to the drive once and put it in the safe, you can be fairly confident it’ll still be fine in a year. Like with a lot of items, it depends on how much use they get. To save you from getting your calculator out, a 512GB flash drive is about 16,000 times larger than a 32MB one. It’s hard to comprehend but prices have fallen, capacity has increased and it’s now possible to find drives with 512 gigabytes (GB) of capacity. When initially released in around 2000, the typical size of a flash drive was 16 or 32 megabytes (MB). The typical flash drive has a USB type A plug, connected to a PCB containing the electronic components to allow it to work, alongside the actual flash memory that holds your data. They contain no magnetic heads, tape readers or optical lasers so in general are usually more reliable when only occasionally used. Unlike traditional forms of storage, the USB flash drive relies on no moving parts. Before flash drives were widely used, people relied on the likes of floppy disks and CD-Rs to share and move their data. Almost any computer with a USB port can make use of them and their popularity has soared. Flash drives have been around for the past twenty years and offer a quick and easy way to store and retrieve data. What are flash drives?īefore we talk about using them as part of your backup strategy, let’s take a step back and understand what they are. The truth, however, is that USB flash drives are reliable for backups if you take a disciplined approach to using them. In the community, you’ll often hear people discouraging the use of USB flash drives as a means of backup. ![]() Whilst a true 3-2-1 backup solution is recommended, if you’re just starting out, however, anything is better than nothing. I’ve lost data in the past and I can’t stress enough how important it is to backup your data. If you’ve been hoarding data for any amount of time, you’ll probably already have a pretty sophisticated backup system in place.
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