Can Hard Drives Be Replaced by Other Data Storage Media?

by: jameswalsh
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Earlier, such replacements were not possible as the flash drives did not have high data storage capacities. In other data storage media such as tape drives, random access of data was not possible. While in the case of CDs and DVDs, the storage capacity was insufficient. Also, these devices were not very reliable for data storage.

So, only flash drives have the potential to replace the hard drives. Let us have a look at some of the advantages of flash drives over hard drives.

Advantages of Flash Drives over Hard Disk Drives

The data access speeds in the flash drives are higher than those in the hard drives. Thus, it is believed that the data access time will be reduced to half by making use of flash drives. The speed at which data is written onto the flash drives is high as well.
Flash drives do not contain any moving parts. This proves to be advantageous in many ways. For example, it improves the data access speed, reduces power consumption, lowers the risk of mechanical damage and subsequent data loss etc.
The low power consumption proves to be useful especially in laptops as this ensures that the laptops will have higher battery life and battery run time.
Flash drives do not have a read/write head. This reduces the risk of damage to the data while it is being written or modified even if the laptop is being moved around during the operation.
The flash drives can also be relied upon to store data for longer periods of time (up to 10 years) without any damage to it.
The flash drives are also sturdier than the hard disk drives. For example, loss of data on the flash drives due to shock or fall is less likely.
Most importantly, the storage capacities of flash drives are fast approaching those of hard drives. As of now, flash drives that can store 128 GB of data are available in the market. With the amount of research that is currently being carried out on the flash drives, it is believed that these devices with even higher capacities will soon be available in the market.
Another advantage of flash drives is that power cuts during the data writing or data modification operation are not likely to corrupt the data that has already been stored onto the device.

Future of Flash Drives as Data Storage Media

Many experts have considered the use of flash drives in place of hard drives within the computer. The major problem that they have been facing is that the cost of data storage in flash drives is higher than that in hard drives. However, it is believed that the cost of storing data will reduce in the subsequent years as the data storage capacities of the devices increase.

Another problem with flash drives is that currently the number of rewrites possible on the flash drives is not as high as those on the hard drives.

The above-mentioned reasons have been the major deterrents for the companies and hence many of them have shied away from releasing computers that utilise flash drives rather than hard drives. Even then, some of the companies have released computers that have 32 GB flash drives. Some of the companies such as Dell offer 32 GB flash drives that can replace the hard drives present in your computers. Also, Samsung plans to release a computer that has 64 GB flash memory in the near future.

Some hybrid computers have been launched in the market having both hard drives and flash drives present in them. Such computers store the files that are used often but rarely modified, in the flash drive memory as they provide higher access speeds; the rest of the data in the hard drives. Operating Systems to support these hybrid computers such as Windows Vista have also been developed.

The Final Word

Thus, the future of flash drives indeed seems bright. With the amount of research that is being carried out, it is likely that flash drives will replace the hard drives to a great extent in the forthcoming years.

About the Author

James Walsh is a freelance writer and copy editor. For more information on computer crime and Computer Forensics see http://www.fieldsassociates.co.uk

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