Flash Memory - Up To 40 Dvd's On A Device The Size Of A Cigarette Lighter

By Miles Stoppard

Computer storage devices have existed in many forms. Since the invention of the computer there has methods developed to create improved ways to store data. The advancements have always evolved around the concept of making storage devices capable of doing more with less. The most recent form of data storage is the Flash memory driver.

In the 1970's computers were mush different then they are now. The Digital Computer Company developed their PDP11 series. This room sized machine had the ability to store data on 9 track tapes. The tapes were recorded with a tape to tape machine that was the size of a standard refrigerator. This computer was a perfect example of the best available at the time. It had a price tag of $200,000 and had 100 megabyte of internal memory. The tapes were capable of holding 20MB of memory that is when they didn't break.

The next 3 decades saw some huge growth in the ability to store data. During this history the storage devices got smaller and the capacity got much larger. Floppy's made reel-to-reel obsolete. The first floppy's' were 8" and held 1. 5 MB's of information. These became smaller with the introduction of 5 1/2 inch floppy's. While the size got reduced so did the capacity. These original floppy's only carried 110KB's, this was improved by 1978. By this time the 5 1/2 inch floppy could hold 360KB. In 1984 a 3 1/2" floppy was introduced that had the ability to hold 1MB.

This information shows clearly the pattern that was developing and has developed to the point of modern times and Flash memory. Floppy's were replaced by CD's and they had much greater capabilities. Depending on how a CD is formatted it can contain up to 650MB's, or 650 times that of a 3 1/2" floppy.

The importance for improved portable storage devices for computer data has continued to evolve. CD's and DVD's replaced floppy's and made zip drives basically obsolete. There are now CD's and DVD's that have the ability to be rewritten. Meaning that not only can they store data but unlike original CD's the data can be written over top of the original data. Original CD's were write only which meant that once they had data on them that was all they could ever have on them.

DVD's have more space capacity than a CD. There are some DVD's that have been created that can store as much as 8 Gigabytes of data. These advanced DVD's; known as 9 tracks DVD's have an extra transparent layer that pushes the capacity of a DVD. Most DVD's carry less than 6 gigabyte. This is a far cry from the storage capacities of the 1980's. DVD's basically hold the equivalent of 6,000 3 1/2 floppy's.

These are all indications of the future abilities of data storage. Flash memory drives provide the greatest amount of portable storage available. They do it in a much smaller unit than CD's and DVD's. They are a perfect example of creating more storage capabilities in a smaller device. Flash memory has the ability to handle up to 256 GB's. This is equal to 40 DVD's, 400 CD's, or 256,000 floppy's.

Flash drives stores huge amounts of data and can be loaded in a very short period of time. They are also very easily carried around since they are the size of a lighter. Flash memory is a perfect example of things to come. There is technology that exists now that makes it possible to store 1 trillion Bytes of data on a stamp sized device. - 30432

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