Uses
[change] As a personal data store/transport
Flash drives are used to store any type of data file, or to move data from one computer to another.[change] Holding data for people who manage computers
Administrators, or people who manage the computer systems, sometimes use flash drives. Sometimes flash drives are also used to run a computer virus scanner, or to restart a computer system that broke or was damaged or lost. The drives have a lot of storage space, and it is often easier to carry a flash drive than to carry a number of CD-ROMs.Some types of flash drive also allow you to install (or download) computer programs. These applications can then be run on any computer without the need for installing them. Very often, they have been changed so that they use computer memory to hold temporary information, for example.
[change] Computer forensics and law enforcement
Police in the cyber division can use flash drives to take evidence or proof.[change] Audio players
Many companies make small solid-state [digital audio players. These are actually flash drives that can make sound. Examples include the Creative MuVo and the iPod shuffle. Some of these players are real USB flash drives as well as music players; Others just play music.Many of the smallest players are powered by a permanently fitted rechargeable battery. The battery can be charged from the USB interface.
[change] Music storage and marketing
Digital audio files can be moved from one computer to another like any other file, and played on a compatible Media player. In addition, many home Hi-Fi and car stereos are now equipped with a USB port. This allows a USB flash drive containing media files in a variety of formats to be played directly on devices which support the format.Artists have sold or given away USB flash drives, with the first instance believed to be in 2004 when the German band WIZO released the "Stick EP", only as a USB drive. In addition to five high quality MP3s, it also included a video, pictures, lyrics, and guitar tablature.
Subsequently, artists including Kanye West[1] , Nine Inch Nails and Ayumi Hamasaki [2] have released music and promotional material on USB flash drives.
[change] In arcades
In the arcade game In the Groove and In The Groove 2, flash drives are used to transfer high scores, screenshots, dance edits, and combos throughout sessions. In later versions players can also store custom songs and play them on any machine on which this feature is enabled. While use of flash drives is common, the drive must be Linux compatible, causing problems for some players.In the arcade games Pump it Up NX2 and Pump it Up NX Absolute, a special produced flash drive is used as a "save file" for unlocked songs, as well as progressing in the WorldMax and Brain Shower sections of the game.
In the arcade game Dance Dance Revolution X, a special USB flash drive was made by Konami letting players link the Sony PlayStation 2 version
[change] Brand and product promotion
Flash drives are very cheap to produce. So, they are sometimes used to promote a product. At most technical trade fairs many exhibitors will promote their products by giving away free drives.In other situations they may be sold at less than wholesale price, or included as a bonus with another product.
Usually, such drives will be stamped with a company's logo, as a form of advertising .
The drive may be blank drive, or already have documents or software loaded on to it. These are called preloaded drives
Some preloaded drives are read-only, but most can be used as a normal flash drive
[change] Backup
The large memory size of newer flash drives means that they are increasingly being used for short term backup of data. For example, one retail till system uses a Flash drive to record details of all of the sales for that day. The drive is used as a backup medium. At the close of business each night, the drive is inserted, and a database backup is saved to the drive. The drive is removed at night and taken offsite.- This is simple for the end-user, and more likely to be done;
- The drive is small and convenient, and more likely to be carried off-site for safety;
- The drives are less fragile mechanically and magnetically than tapes;
- The capacity is often large enough for several backup images of critical data;
- Flash drives are cheaper than many other backup systems.
[change] Parts
This photograph shows both sides of the printed circuit board (PCB) inside a typical flash drive (circa 2004). The flash drive in this photograph is a 64 MB USB 2.0 device with its plastic case removed.One end of the device is fitted with a single type-A USB connector. Inside the plastic casing is a small, highly cost-engineered, printed circuit board. Mounted on this board is some simple power circuitry and a small number of surface-mounted integrated circuits (ICs). Typically, one of these ICs provides an interface to the USB port, another drives the onboard memory, and the other is the flash memory.
[change] Good points and bad points
[change] Pros
Most computers support USB.Flash drives are quite robust. They are not damaged by scratches and dust. This makes them a good choice to move data from one place to another.
Some flash drives can keep the data, even if they are put in water.[3] Some data may even survive the washing machine, but this is not a designed feature, and people should not rely on it. Leaving the flash drive out to dry completely before allowing current to run through it has been known to result in a working drive with no future problems.
Channel Five's Gadget Show cooked a flash drive with propane; froze it with dry ice; submerged it in various acidic liquids; ran over it with a jeep and fired it against a wall with a mortar. A company specializing in recovering lost data from computer drives then managed to recover all the data on the drive.[4] All data on the other removable storage devices tested, using optical or magnetic technologies, were destroyed.
Flash drives are available in large sizes. Currently at the start of 2010, the largest size publicly available is 256 gigabytes. This will increase as the technology gets better.
Flash drives use little power, compared to hard drives and have no moving parts. They are small and easy to carry.
Most modern operating systems can use a flash drive, without the need to install special software. To most operating systems, the flash drive looks like a hard drive. The operating system can use any file system. Some computers can start from a flash drive.
[change] Cons
Flash memory has a limited life. Data can only be written to and read from a device a few thousand times.[5][6] People should keep this in mind when they use a flash drive to run application software or an operating system. To address this, as well as space limitations, some developers have produced special versions of operating systems (such as Linux in Live USB) [7] or commonplace applications (such as Mozilla Firefox) designed to run from flash drives.Flash drives are small and are easily lost or left behind. This can cause problems of data security.
No comments:
Post a Comment