Make Your Data Easily Mobile

Mobility has become the name of the game. School students, salesman, employees taking work home with them, and others working from multiple locations all have the same concern: How do I take my files with me easily?

In the past, floppy disks were the media most commonly used to transport data from place to place. The problem with a floppy is that the amount of data you can store is very small. It can only hold 1.4MB of data, which is only just a few high quality images. Floppy disks are very slow to read from and write to, and have a limited lifespan.

After the floppy, the most common media used was a ZIP disk. They originally could hold up to 100MB of data, which is about the same as 67 floppies. The problem with ZIP disks was that you needed a special ZIP drive to read or write to the disks. The ZIP drives and disks were both rather expensive. Since the release of the first ZIP disk, larger size disks, like 750MB were released. The biggest problem with ZIP disks is availability. ZIP drives just never caught on because recordable CD-ROM pricing came down so quickly, making it more affordable for end users.

A CD-ROM disk that can be ‘written to’ and ‘read from’ with sizes up to 700MB is commonly referred to as a CD-R. The problem with CD-R’s initially was equipment and disk costs, but an additional problem with CD-R’s was that they could only be written to once. You could write multiple times up to 700MB, but the data sectors used could only be used once. If you saved a 1MB file to the CD, and then changed the file and re-saved it back to the CD as a 2MB file, you would have used a total of 3MB of storage and would have 697MB left. After the CD-R came the CD-RW. It functioned much like the CD-R, but it allowed you to erase the CD and start re-writing data without losing space, much like a floppy. The pricing of CD burners and CD media dropped substantially, and almost every new computer today comes standard with a CD-RW burner or DVD burner.

Now, there are DVD’s that can come in recordable and re-writable formats like CD’s. The limits have increased up to 4.7 GB and Dual Layer DVD burners that record up to 8.4GB of data. That is enough to store an entire movie in digital format. Let’s just say that is a lot. There are additional equipment costs and media costs that are expensive and not every computer is equipped with a DVD burner.

Another problem with both CD and DVD media is that while they are generally durable, they can become scratched and rendered useless. In severe cases, your data will be unrecoverable. CD and DVD media are also susceptible to heat. If left in a car in the sunlight, they can melt or become distorted, which can also corrupt your data. The size of the CD and DVD media are rather large and carrying them around can be a problem.

There’s a new media type that has been available for some time: portable USB drives. Each manufacturer has a different name for them: pen drives, jump drives, and flash drives. It is a USB compatible device normally about 3” in length, 1” in width, and about ½” in depth. They can easily fit in a pocket or purse, but they normally come with keychain or neck attachments to carry them more easily. They originally came in 8MB and 16MB sizes, but are now available in 2GB size or higher.

USB pen drives are very easy to transport and use. Most computers that are newer than 5 years old have USB ports. USB has become a standard technology for external peripherals, like printers, scanners, and cameras. Simply plug the drive into the USB port of the computer and most versions of Microsoft Windows will recognize the device and assign it a drive letter. You can access the new device through this drive letter, just as you would for a floppy, CD, DVD, or hard drive.

Beware: you get what you pay for. The price range of USB drives is large, ranging from about $20 to $600, based on size and features. It is important that you review your requirements and needs to determine what size best suits you. Take an inventory of the files you most commonly use and add up the sizes. Give yourself some room for growth, and you should have a good estimate on which drive size you should purchase. USB pen drives normally come in sizes of 16, 32, 64, 128, 256, and 512 megabytes. Beyond 512MB starts the GB marker.

Although floppy disks or CD's may server the purpose, they may not be the most convenient.  As technology advances, mobility and convenience become more available.  Why not take advantage of technology and make things just a little easier!

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