USB Flash Drive Roundup - 10/2005
by Anand Lal Shimpi on October 4, 2005 11:28 AM EST- Posted in
- Memory
Read Performance
Our read performance investigations start out with small 512-byte files, then scale up to 32KB, 256KB, 2MB and 64MB file sizes.
512-byte File Read Performance
At 512-bytes, the performance of all of these drives is in the sub-1MB/s range. The fact of the matter is that NAND flash based USB drives do not perform very well with small files:
Honestly, you don't see any real performance differences here until you drop into the bottom 4 or 5 drives.
32KB File Read Performance
At 32KB, we get into the size range of very small pictures, medium sized documents and a number of other types of files that are all potentially well suited for these drives. Note that the performance of these drives improves significantly over the 512-byte file size results from above. While we expressed performance in hundreds of kilobytes per second before, now we're talking about megabytes and tens of megabytes per second:
Once we get lower than the Flash Voyager on the list, that's when we see performance drop into the single digit MB/s transfer rates.
Our read performance investigations start out with small 512-byte files, then scale up to 32KB, 256KB, 2MB and 64MB file sizes.
512-byte File Read Performance
At 512-bytes, the performance of all of these drives is in the sub-1MB/s range. The fact of the matter is that NAND flash based USB drives do not perform very well with small files:
Honestly, you don't see any real performance differences here until you drop into the bottom 4 or 5 drives.
32KB File Read Performance
At 32KB, we get into the size range of very small pictures, medium sized documents and a number of other types of files that are all potentially well suited for these drives. Note that the performance of these drives improves significantly over the 512-byte file size results from above. While we expressed performance in hundreds of kilobytes per second before, now we're talking about megabytes and tens of megabytes per second:
Once we get lower than the Flash Voyager on the list, that's when we see performance drop into the single digit MB/s transfer rates.
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sxr7171 - Tuesday, October 4, 2005 - link
Time to get a Lexar JumpDrive lightning. This may not be important to a lot of people, but a USB drive IMHO needs to have a loop for a keyring. It is the most convenient way to carry the thing and always have it with you no matter what. I guess this applies more to people living in the city and not needing a car and the big bulky car keys/remote that come with that.TheInvincibleMustard - Tuesday, October 4, 2005 - link
Speaking of, is there some reason the Lexar isn't on the RTPE? I mean, it did just win an Editor's Choice and all, so you'd hope it would be one of the drives listed in the newly-announced Flash Storage section ... :(-TIM
Pete84 - Tuesday, October 4, 2005 - link
Bummer, OCZ's dual channel USB stick didn't get in.jkostans - Tuesday, October 4, 2005 - link
Someone didn't read the article......SpaceRanger - Tuesday, October 4, 2005 - link
Are USB drives able to be made Bootable?? I know that systems can recognize USB Floppy Drives, and boot from those, but I was wondering if you could take a USB Flash Drive and make it a bootable device.Phantronius - Tuesday, October 4, 2005 - link
depending on the flash drive and the motherboard BIOS, yes you can do it.Phantronius - Tuesday, October 4, 2005 - link
1st!!!I love my OEM made from some pretty lady in china USB 2.0 stick, its saved my ass so many times for my work, especially in data reterival and spyware removal.
Souka - Tuesday, October 4, 2005 - link
I've had the Memina Rocket for a couple months now....before they even announced it (thanks to NewEgg)....write spead defintly kinda bite with small files especially, but usually I put drivers and stuff there once, then read mutliple times....so its a good match for me.PQI's I got over a year ago, and completely made everyone jealous.... for once, mem were bragging theirs is smaller than someone else's. :D
I still use a SanDisk Titanium.....only a 512mb module, but still works well.
Souka - Wednesday, October 5, 2005 - link
oopsss...typomeant to say...
PQI's I got over a year ago for my office, and completely made everyone jealous.... for once, men were bragging theirs was smaller!! :D