Facts about flash drives

The name "USB flash drive" is derived from the Universal Serial Bus (USB) interface found in most computers today, in the form of a simple plug-and-play port.

The "flash" part, meanwhile, comes from NAND -- flash memory technology that the drives use, which Japanese computer firm Toshiba invented in the late 1980s as a faster version of the then available nonvolatile, rewritable memory chips.

USB flash drives are also known as USB "thumb drives" or "pen drives" in reference to their shape and size, and "key drives" due to way people attach them to their key chains.

Others simply call them "USB sticks" (again referring to their shape and size).

A USB flash drive typically consists of a male type-A USB connector, a NAND flash memory chip, a controller chip and light emitting diodes (LED) that flash on any memory read-and-write activities (and make the drives appear more cool).

Although USB ports can reach a maximum data throughput of 480 megabits per second (Mbps), most USB flash drives run at a lower 100 Mbps data transfer rate when reading data, and slightly slower when writing data.

Although USB flash drives are built on solid-state memory technology -- which have no moving parts, therefore making them more durable than portable hard disks -- the drives do have an average 100,000 read-and-write limit before they experience possible data failure.

Among the first USB flash drives marketed was the DiskOnKey from M-Systems launched late 2000. Afterward, a plethora of drives began to be marketed, in various forms -- even embedding them into wristwatches -- to attract customers.

-- Urip Hudiono