Different Factors Causing Data Loss in USB Drives

This article will discuss flash memory drives and what makes the data stored in them corrupted.

Flash drives are much like rechargeable batteries that lose their charge after hundreds of cycles. The NAND flash components can also lose their ability to retain the data after a few thousand write-erase cycles. This is called by component vendors as the endurance factor. The endurance of SLC flash drives is 10 times greater the MLC flash drive and 2o times greater than TLC. This is the reason why SLC flash drives are considered to be industrial grade and MLC flash drives are at consumer grade. The older flash drives get the less reliable they are when it comes to their capability to store data. The gradual degradation does not require extreme environmental situation or physical damage to actually occur.

On NAND flash types, there is a failure factor called retention. This is the measure of how long the cell can maintain its programmed state whenever the chip is not under power. This parameter is sensitive to and very dependent upon external environment. High temperature reduces the retention duration. The number of reading cycles that can be performed can also reduce their retention and this is true especially for TLC drives. To learn more about flash memory retention factors of drives, you can simply surf the internet.

Corrosion of contacts due to condensation because of humidity or high temperatures is also a cause for the damage of these devices since moisture can cause the shorting of the circuit board. Hardware failure may result because of these.

One of the most common reasons for bulk flash drives to experience data loss is the detaching of the media from the computer and other devices improperly. The most frequent result from doing this wrong act is the damage of the logical file system. In this situation, the drive is not actually damaged even though your data is already lost. But there are other rare cases that the unsafe removal can also cause damage cells that hold internal flash drive information that can no longer be accessed or repairs by their operating systems. If you want to recover those important files that are damaged, you might need to seek the help of data recovery professionals. It is very important to safely remove the device from the system and never unplug the USB drive while it is still reading or writing information.

The best way to avoid storage media failure is to make backup routine frequently especially for files that are important. Without a backup system, a single instance of failure can lead to data loss. These data recovery services can salvage the content of USB flash drives but the process can be very costly and time-consuming. A proper backup system will save you from this type of a predicament.

Because of the limitations of this technology, these types of drives should not be used for frequently updated files. For critical data, it is best to use SLC flash drives. If you want to learn more about the different types of drives, you can click here to check it out.

Howard Young    Contact the author of the petition