We all have a Flash Drive in our home, whether it is lost in one of the drawers, connected to a USB port on the computer or simply in the form of that merchandising keychain that we do not pay attention to. But, what do we mean by this term and what products within the world of hardware do we include in this category?
Internet has become the network where we share everything; however, this has not always been the case and there are cases in which people prefer to keep their data safe, on a Flash Drive that they always carry with them. Either to save your most private data or for other purposes.
What is flash memory?
With this term we refer colloquially to all information storage systems , of which you can not only read their data , but also write to them and that are based on the use of semiconductors for it. So we include memory cards, SSD storage units and Flash Drives in them. But the classic disk drives such as HDDs, floppy disks and tape drives are not included in this classification.
They all use NAND Flash technology , named after the type of logic gate I know is used to store the data. Although there are other types such as NOR Flash calls, they are used more for other applications, such as embedded systems. And it is that unlike the NAND Flash, the NOR Flash is in capacities of few gigabits and with much slower speeds. Your advantage? They can maintain data integrity for more than 20 years. What is not in the interest of manufacturers who live off the obsolescence of products to maintain their sales rate.
What is a Flash Drive?
Once we know what flash memory is, we have to talk about what we could call a Flash Drive and this is nothing more than a synonym for what we call a pendrive. Which is based on a pocket device that is based on a USB interface and a small board with a chip that incorporates inside the controller to access them and another with its own flash memory. So technically it is an extremely integrated piece of hardware, as it has very few components and is easy to manufacture. In addition, the use of the most popular interface for peripherals today allows us to use it on any computer.
Over time, Flash Drives ended up replacing the classic floppy disks to transmit information, although today, with the whole world connected to the Internet, they do not seem so necessary as there are online services to share files. However, they are extremely useful to use when we do not have an internet connection or for other functions, including their use for automatic BIOS updates , computer diagnostic units or even to load an operating system from the unit.
Its counterpart is in its performance, since bandwidth is limited by that of the USB interface itself, so unless we use a USB 3.0 type Flash Drive we should not expect the same performance as a hard drive and many than an SSD. It should also be taken into account that since they are extremely cheap, the quality of their memory is also cheap and, therefore, it has a much lower useful life.
How is a Flash Drive inside?
Once we have defined what a Flash Drive is, we have to talk to you about what it is like inside.
- The interface with which it will connect to the computer , in this case is a USB type A connection, but for some time they have been adopting type C as an interface for communication. Which gives them high compatibility with all kinds of devices, including tablets and phones that use this port both to charge the battery and to transfer information.
- The microcontroller that will carry out the accesses to the memory of the Flash Drive in an automated way and without the participation of any external hardware for it.
- The test pins , which are reminiscent of when programming the microcontroller from the factory.
- The flash memory that stores the data , normally in a Flash Drive due to portability and space, there is a single chip.
- This component handles the clock signal , which is crucial for synchronizing data transfers with the PC.
- LED lights , which indicates the transfer of data or the use of the unit when transferring files.
- Write protect button.
- Space for a second Flash memory, which in this case the manufacturer has decided not to solder.
Is it the same as an SSD drive?
This question, although it may seem banal, many of you will have asked it at some point in your lives. At the end of the day, a solid state drive or SSD is nothing more than the older and vitaminized brother of a Flash Drive. Where several flash memory chips and a much more powerful controller are used to manage access to the information contained in it. The difference apart from lower capacity and performance? SSD drives are not designed to be portable and carried anywhere, but as fixed parts in our PCs.
However, if we are talking about very low performance systems where the access speed does not have to be the most advanced, then a Flash Drive can serve as a storage unit just like an SSD . Taking into account the technical differences of course. So we can use it as the main storage unit in a Raspberry Pi-type SBC or a MiniPC on which we cannot add more storage space.
To all this we must add that with the arrival of the new interfaces based on Type-C we will soon see them being used as a replacement for the hard drive in very low-end computers. Especially those used for offices and specifically in places where data control is important for the professionals who work with it to have in their hands and they are so delicate that they must always carry them with them.
