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USB Flash drive is primarily a data storage device consisting of a NAND-type flash memory. This article will tell you some USB flash drive benefits.
It also posseses a Universal Serial Bus(USB) interface for ease of connectivity with computers or laptops using integrated USB port.
USB flash drives have today become the De facto standard of portable data storage, replacing older data storage devices such as Floppy disks and even CD/DVDs. As a double layer DVD goes to a maximum of 9.6GB of data storage only, USB flash drives are way ahead of data storage capacity, going upto 64GB or even more. Although, the cost of USB is comparatively higher than CD/DVDs but there are several other benefits of USB Flash Drive, which make it a High utility product and a much preferrable(or killer) option compared to other conventional data storage media.
Rewritability: A USB Flash drive can be erased and re-written even hundreds of thousands of times in its whole lifespan. A CD/DVD may be re-writable or not. In case of Re-Writable(RW) CD/DVDs, the issue is with the limitation of rewriting cycles(only 1000 or so) and also the appropriacy for large scale re-writing only. For the need of small scale re-writing(such as writing a 140kb word file), CD/DVDs prove highly impractical and hence USB drives are most preferred.
Compact size: USB flash drives are so small in size that they are often kept as a part of keychain or carried in the wallet itself. They are often termed as Pen drive, just because of their similar size and shape as that of a pen(even smaller than a pen)
Faster data transfer: Compared to older storage media, USB flash drive transfers data much faster, reading data at about 30Mb/s and writing at around 12-15 Mb/s. Upcoming upgradations such as USB 3.0 are certainly going to enhance the data transfer rates by multi-folds.
High capacity: USB flash drives have a huge storage capacity, going to a maximum of 64GB, much higher compared to storage capacities of CD(700MB) or Dual layered DVD(9.6GB). For more storage along with portability, one has to switch to Portable harddisks.
Longer lifespan: As write and erase cycles go in hundreds of thousands in count, the lifespan of a USB drive goes beyond 10 years(for general purpose usage). Within this much time, the user is expected to actually switch to more advanced USB solutions.
Sturdy Design: Unlike fragile Floppy disks or CD/DVDs, USB flash drives are much more resistant to wear and tear. USB Flash drives are generally scratch-proof and have lesser chances of any mechanical damage. They are also protected against dust penetration.
Portability & Comfort: It is very convenient to use a USB flash drive on modern PCs and laptops. Almost every PC/laptop has multiple USB ports and therefore, you will hardly find a moment when you cannot find a USB port for plugging your flash drive into it. As the size of USB drive is ultra small, its very convenient to carry along as well.
All the above advantages of USB flash drives have made it the ‘Most popular portable data storage device’ today.
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