Whats the difference between External hardisk & flashdisk?

[iluvmac]

Hi

Hope someone can explain to me the folowing:
What's the difference between an external hardisk with lotsa gigs and a mass storage device with regards to function and application?

Many THANKS!

 

[The_Unbeliever]

The HDD have a moving platter.

The flash disk have no moving parts at all.

One can fall over and won't break (flash disk), the other will break if it falls over (the HDD).

But... the HDD can be written to as many times as you can, but the flash disk have a limited lifetime - there is a limit to the number of writes that can be performed on it.

 

[daveza]

But... the HDD can be written to as many times as you can, but the flash disk have a limited lifetime - there is a limit to the number of writes that can be performed on it.

I didn't know that - really ?

 

[The_Unbeliever]

True as toasted toads.

 

[daveza]

So how many loads do you get and if you reformat does the clock start ticking again ?

 

[The_Unbeliever]

So how many loads do you get and if you reformat does the clock start ticking again ?

Nope - reformat does not help. If you've written a 100 times to the flash disk, it will be a 100 times - and after the format, a 101 times.

What do you want to use it for?

 

[cyberarmy]

Therefore defrag your flash drive is not a good idea, same goes for copy lots of small files into it instead of zip them on your PC and just copy one file over.

 

[TiredOfWaiting]

So how many loads do you get and if you reformat does the clock start ticking again ?

The underlying technology that drives flash drives only allows a certain number of re-writes before it can no longer maintain its data. It's not a limit enforced by software or anything like that, it's just a physical limitation.

About 10,000 writes, if I'm not mistaken...

So it won't be useful for a cache system, but more than adequate for an MP3 player.

 

[cyberarmy]

I know it's at least 100,000 times.

 

[TiredOfWaiting]

I know it's at least 100,000 times.

I stand corrected. I'm WAY too lazy to hit up Google this late on a Monday afternoon.

 

[Dolby]

Like all flash memory devices, flash drives can sustain only a limited number of write and erase cycles before failure. Mid-range flash drives under normal conditions will support several hundred thousand cycles, although write operations will gradually slow as the device ages. This should be a consideration when using a flash drive to run application software or an operating system.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USB_flash_drive