[NTLUG:Discuss] USB Memory Sticks

Stan Gatchel sgatchel at psltech.com
Wed Nov 19 10:19:52 CST 2008


Ralph,

Thanks for the great response.

Stan

Ralph wrote:
> Howdy,
>   I am a little behind in my email, but I wrote something about this
> recently.  Emphatically, I can say do not use a 32 GB USB flash drive as
> archival media.  32 GB flash drives are MLC flash memory and are
> unsuited to archival storage, even with multiple copies.  If you don't
> know what MLC memory is, google it or read a short article I wrote on
> the local unix user group site recently.
>   http://www.dfwuug.org/wiki/Main/FlashMemory
>
>  SLC based flash drives are getting harder to find and 4 gigabytes seems
> to be the maximum size available as of the end of 2008.  I just bought a
> couple of drives that meet most of your specs, other than the size.
> They were "MEMOREX 2GB M Flyer Travel Drive USB 2.0 FlashDrive".  I may
> take one of them apart when they arrive to see if I can confirm that
> they are really SLC based flash.  If you want to talk about it, look for
> me on the #dfwuug channel on irc.freenode.net.  It is new for the Unix
> group.  If it gets popular, then NTLUG ought to think about starting
> one.
>   I don't trust any one medium for long term storage.  No digital medium
> is good enough, and MLC flash is not even in the running.  I'd trust MO
> disk as much as anything, but renewal of your archives is an ongoing
> process.  There is lots of information on this subject online, and I
> think we have a couple of members locally who know a fair bit about the
> subject(not me, I'm a beginner at long term archival).
> Good luck,
> Ralph
>
>
> On Sat, 2008-10-04 at 09:58 -0500, Stan Gatchel wrote:
>   
>> I am looking for a good 32GB USB 2 Memory Stick that works well with Linux:
>>
>> 1. Rugged
>> 2 Fast (12MB+ write?)
>> 3. Stable (stores data for a long time without loss)
>> 4. Retractable connector (optional but preferred)
>> 5. Reliable
>>
>> Any suggestions as to brand, model, and where to buy?
>>
>> Also, how do these stack up against DVD's for backup/archival purposes?
>>     
>
>
>
>   


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