The external hard drives are one of the biggest competitors of USB flash drives. But just as laptops, notebooks and even desktops, they are very susceptible to accidents or malicious damage. Because they have a lot of mechanical parts, like platters, spindles and the read and write heads, many things can go wrong or get broken if they are dropped on the floor or because some other unfortunate event. And no one likes to loose data or to spend large amounts of money to retrieve it from a damaged storing device.
USB flash drives are the safer alternative
With their reduction in price and increasing digital data storing capacity, the USB flash drives are the safer alternative to portable hard drives being the preferred choice for most users. They usually have a simple design that contains just a small circuit board, a USB connector that is electrically insulated, a flash memory chip and no mechanical parts. And all these components are encased in a plastic, rubber or metal body.
Power requirement
Because the design of USB flash drive lacks any mechanical parts or moving parts, the power required to function is much lower than the one required at HDD drives and the heat produced is also very low. They are not susceptible to dust, scratches or shock vibrations and strong magnetic fields do not influence them in any way. They also have no fragmentation problems like the hard drives have, when clusters are not located physically near one another .
Durability of the USB sticks
Funny and most interesting experiments were conducted to test the durability of the USB sticks. Certain specially designed devices were submerged in water, some were cooked and frozen, some dipped in acid liquids and even run over by vehicles. Some of the flash drives were tested by smashing them against a wall. Surprisingly the data could be retrieved from some devices . But that does not mean that you should test them like that at home. Actually, please don’t do it.
Even with their established status as durable storage devices, new more and more advanced designs are developed, increasing their estimated lifetimes. Today, USB flash drives warranties are extended to five years, and for some models even more, so we wonder how much time will pass before these amazing tools will fully replace the magnetic disks.
Most evident advantages of the USB memory drives
Convenience, weight, size and flexibility were the most evident advantages of the USB memory drives. Now, with the impressive amount of digital data they can carry, these extremely robust storing devices, attached to our key rings, hanging at our neck or simply placed in our pockets, handbags or wallets, give us even more reasons to use them and to value them.