A "New" Device to Manage
In the short time since the publication of the textbook the flash or thumbdrive has gained popularity in PC usage. Each of you should research this new storage medium and supplement the textbook's explanation with your own impression of how this device is managed by the system, and why it has gained such popularity. Don't forget to research it's potential weaknesses. So research, comment, and blog on!
11 Comments:
Webopedia lists a flash drive as “a small, portable flash memory card that plugs into a computer’s USB port and functions as a portable hard drive with up to 2GB of storage capacity. USB flash drives are touted as being easy-to-use as they are small enough to be carried in a pocket and can plug into any computer with a USB drive. USB flash drives have less storage capacity than an external hard drive, but they are smaller and more durable because they do not contain any internal moving parts.” This pretty much describes a jump drive, flash drive, stick, pocket drives or scan disk. I use them every day. It makes it easier to travel and also share data quickly. In fact when I am working with various developers the term “do you have that on stick’ often comes up. I have even seen them listed as secure flash drives. They are also getting larger storage capacity while the prices are dropping. It really makes it easier to work today. I really can not think of any disadvantages except that we have become too dependent on them and also in our zeal to use them we might pass virus’s if we don’t scan them for virus’s.
Alan W
Despite the different brands and names you've heard for USB flash drives – Jump Drives, Pocket drives, Pen drives, and Thumb drives – they all pretty much operate the same way. The difference is mostly in price, capacity, design, functions and features for example, some have built-in MP3 players. What's really important, though, is what they share: They're all pluggable, portable, and powerful!
USB flash drives share some other characteristics, too.
-USB flash drives weigh about the same as a car key – in fact, some USB flash drives are so lightweight that hypothetically it could take 14 ants to carry one!
-USB flash drives are about the size of a stick of gum.
-USB flash drives currently can hold up to two gigs of data – that's over 650 three-minute songs (33 hours) recorded as MP3s or about three times the content of a standard compact disc.
-If you share a computer, USB flash drives are a great way to store personal information use them instead of the computer's hard drive.
-According to some manufacturer's specifications, USB flash drives can maintain data for 10 years – in that same period you’ll probably have to replace your computer’s hard drive three times.
-Flash memory is also popular in modems because it enables the modem manufacturer to support new protocols as they become standardized.
Flash memory (sometimes called flash EEPROM) is similar to EEPROM. The principal difference is that EEPROM requires data to be written or erased one byte at a time whereas flash memory allows data to be written or erased in blocks. This makes flash memory faster.
Denish O
Thumb drives, flash drives, etc. are compact and many people carry them on their keychains. I personnally have several and find them to be very useful in storing important data which I can carry with me as well. However, some of the disadvantages are that they are expensive and I am afraid that one day My Dog "Sparky" will get a hold of one when it is plugged in to my computer and chew it up. I am looking for that day to happen and it would be devastating if it did. We hold so much important data on these devices and they are very easy to misplace.
S.J
I read an article online, that the thumb drives are not just going to be used to store data. Their are some providers (Kingston, Memorex and Verbatim) that are coming up with software that will have applications on the thumb drives. Thumb drives are popular because their easy to transport, it gives the advantage of more people bringing their work home on those devices being that it stores lots more data than the floppy drives. Weakness, I would say is that if you are the type to write and erase data constantly look forward to your device failure. Their are some that also don't have the write-protection mechanism.
Flashdrives are outstanding. Its light wieght. Easy to carry. able to cope with much larger file sizes than floppy disks. Able to provide fast transfer of information.Buying points.Verify the number of multiple erase cycles (typically 1 million times). Verify data retention time (typically 10 years).I hope you found my blog helpful.
by Deuce
The high demand for these devices is very simple- People don't want big bulky items that cause clutter and aren't easily trasferred fom place to place. I believe that the world revolves around convenience in this day and age. I found some weaknesses that I believed to be important. First, some need most of the power a standard USB port can supply and therefore cannot be used with a bus powered hub. Flash drives are more tolerant of abuse than mechanical drives, but can still be damaged or have data corrupted if impact loosens circuit connections. This means that they must be handled with care.
jerry smith said:
Augusta Ada Byron made a program for the department of defense called ada. She got the idea from an idea that babbages had.
I think that usb drives will eventually phase out everything else at least until another better device is created.
LC
these things are growing fast we should have 1000gig flash drives in a year or so.. thats what i think!!
Usb Flash drives double in size every few months nowadays.
The largets i have heard of as of yet is an 8 gigabyte.
All walks of life started incoperating this handy lil tool.
I have seen it alot in the music indistry among producers.
they carry all of their music on their keychain.
The only problem as of now is their limited life span
chris m
I think USB are great to use cause it have a lot of space. The USB is butter than a floppy disk. A floppy disk is easer to break. The floppy disk can break anywhere, it you not careful with it. The only weaknesses it have is to pull the USB for the computer instead of release it by going to the taskbar and click the green area. Click Safely Remove USB Mass Storage Device -Drive(F). The only way that people can't lose their files or data is to release it the right way. The USB size can also be a problem. People can easely lose it if they not careful with it. It can be lose anywhere too. Another name for the USB is Thumb drive, Stick, or the USB drive. USB stands for Universal Serial Bus. Thumb drives, flash drives, etc. are compact and many people carry them on their keychains. Sometime the thumb drive have a rope to it. People can put it around their there neck. The what the rope for. The history of it when Trek Technology claims it was the first to conceive and create the Thumb Drive. This device came out in the early 2000. It also holds up to 32 megabytes to 64 gigabytes. It also call flash drive. A flash memory is a removable medium that RAM, but stores data securely even when removed from power source. The USB flash drive is a very helpful device.
Sharon C. Anderson
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