Storage World

Over the years Flash memory chips have appeared in more than 20 memory card formats. Only a few remain, like USB stick, Compact Flash, Secure Digital and Sony Memory Stick are the survivors, along with the proprietary formats of major game console vendors, and mobile phone SIM cards.

Smart Media

Now almost defunct, Smart Media was the first card memory released with NAND Flash. It often had only a single flash chip mounted in a very thin, flat card and no built-in controller. This led to address compatibility problems as capacities increased and Smart Media ceased production with 128MB cards.

With its limited connections it’s also slower than the competing Compact Flash card. There are many digital cameras still in use that use Smart Media memory.

USB Memory Sticks

USB Flash Memory also sometimes referred to as thumbdrive, Jumpdrive or a USB key, is by now familiar to most people and has largely usurped the floppy disk. It’s ideal for temporary backups and file transfer, but USB keys stick out when plugged in so don’t suit semi-permanent installation, unlike most of the other Flash formats. The connector is simple, but transfer rates are limited by the USB port, so a USB2 memory key will run slowly in a USB1 port.

Unlike Smart Media, they include a controller chip to perform maintenance duties and filing system conversion. One of the larger forms of Flash, USB stick are sometimes come with write-protect switches and almost always have an activity light. They’re typically available in capacities from 256MB to 32GB and with transfer rates up to 22Mbytes/sec.

Besides capacity and speed, the price of USB Flash Memory is determined by features such as metal cases, extras such as encryption or displays showing usage.

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Tags: hard disk

Secure Digital (SD)

Secure Digital or SD cards and the associated formats miniSD, microSD, SDHC (SD High Capacity) miniSDHC and microSDHC, are perhaps today’s rising stars of Flash. SD memory is physically small and light, so it is eminently suitable for use in hand-held digital devices such as pocket cameras, mobile phone. The name Secure Digital is used because the original formats, which is SD and SDHC that are fitted with a tiny mechanical write-protect slide switch. High Capacity, as in SDHC, refers to cards with capacities over the 2GB partition size limit imposed by Fat; these HC devices use the Fat32 format instead.

The mini and micro cards don’t have a switch, but can be inserted into an miniSD to SD adapter that does, and allows them to fit SD slots.

Transfer rates for SD are 10Mbytes/sec for the low-capacity, minimum-specification cards, up to 20Mbytes/sec for the highest specification card.

Sony Memory Stick

Sony Memory Stick is a proprietary Sony product, designed to lock users of their devices into using only this format. There are five flavors of Memory Stick; the original, the Memory Stick Micro, the MS Duo, the MS Pro Dua, and the MS Pro-HG Duo, with a maximum capacity of 32GB. According to Sony the newer MSmicro is designed for use in mobile phones and the company no longer supports the original Memory Stick.

The MS Micro is available in 512MB, 1, 2 and 4GB capacities and the MS Duo is available only in 128MB. The MS Pro-Duo is available in 512MB, 1, 2, 4 and 8GB capacities. All three have a maximum transfer rate of 20Mbytes/sec. The MS Pro-HG Duo is available in 1, 2 and 4GB capacities with a maximum transfer rate of 30Mbytes/sec.

Memory Stick is one of the few removable Flash memory formats that supports DRM (Digital Rights Management), in the form of Sony’s Magicgate.

Tags: storage

External disks are great, in that they let you add extra storage to a PC or server with minimal fuss and expense. Unfortunately, most use USB to connect to the host system, which limits the speed at which data can be transferred and hence the type of application for which they can be used. The latest Hypertec Firestorm drives, however, have eSata as well as USB interfaces, which makes them far more flexible.

As the name implies, eSata is an extension to the serial ATA (Sata) interface, used for internal storage on most modern desktop PCs and small-business servers. The e stands for external, an eSata interface enabling external disks to deliver the same level of performance as those inside a host system. You can even boot from an external disk connected via eSata, if you want. Hypertec Firestorm drives are available in a variety of capacities, starting with the 80GB model, up to a 500GB version. A dual-drive implementation is also available with a total capacity of either 1.5TB or 2TB, with optional Raid protection if needed.

All come housed in sleek alloy cases designed to dissipate heat without the need for a cooling fan, an approach that also makes them very quiet. A small stand allows the drive to be positioned where needed, while power is supplied via a separate AC adapter that plugs in at the back next to the USB and eSata connectors. Leads for both are provided and, as few PCs or servers have eSata interfaces as yet, you also get an adapter for use with internal Sata ports. This fits into a standard expansion bay, although there’s no card to plug in, just a backplate and a cable to attach to an internal Sata port.

On the inside each Firestorm drive comprises little more than a hard disk and a small interface module. The test unit 80GB, for example, had a single 7,200rpm Sata disk from Excelstor, a Chinese manufacturer recently acquired by Iomega, with similar drives in the other models.

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Flash memory is an obvious target for counterfeiters because it is small and easy to ship, it sells in high volume with a reasonable margin and it’s relatively easy to copy the labeling and case designs. Copies are only made of the high-value brand names and they are often so good that it is hard to tell the genuine article when they are compared side by side.

However, although the fakes may work they are usually nowhere near as reliable as the genuine article.

A simple way to fake Flash is to buy low-cost, obscure brand cards and replace the labels with a copy of those from a top brand. To steer clear of fakes, we recommend you always buy your memory from a reputable dealer, and avoid auctions or suspiciously cheap vendors.

Small and light, Freecom’s Toughdrive Pro 250GB not only comes with a huge capacity for a 2.5in hard drive but provides a good deal of physical protection for your data. It has a soft, silicone cover that can withstand a drop of two meters and there is a built in anti-shock mechanism. It also draws all the power it needs via the USB2 bus.

Time Capsule is primarily intended as a storage device for Mac owners using the Time Machine backup program included with OSX. However, it can also be used with Windows PCs or on a mixed Mac and PC network.

Basically, Time Capsule is an an 802.11n wireless router with a network hard disk built into it so that everyone on the network can share data. In this review unit was the 500GB model, but there’s also a 1TB version. Apple is often criticized for high prices, but Time Capsule compares well to similar devices such as Freecom‘s wireless Storage Gateway, which costs $224 for its 500GB version.

As you’d expect from Apple, the Time Capsule is easy to set up and use. A simple installer program guides you through the process of creating a new wireless network or adding the Time Capsule to an existing network. The unit also has three Gigabit network ports for wired connections, and a USB port that can be used to connect and share additional devices on the network, such as a printer or another hard disk.

Setting up the Time Capsule is easy and straightforward enough, but although it features a Wan port for cable broadband users, it doesn’t include a built-in modem. ADSL broadband subscribers will need to connect the Time Capsule to an existing modem and router in order to maintain their internet connection.

If you’ve already got a wireless router, you would probably be better off buying a standalone network-attached storage drive, because a 500GB models can be picked up for just over $100. This leaves Time Capsule as an option for people who want to upgrade a wired network, but even then its lack of a built-in ADSL modem means it will only live up to its full potential when used in conjunction with a cable broadband service.

For more details, click Apple Time Capsule MB276LL/A 802.11n 500 GB Network Backup Hard Drive

An online service offers 30GB of free storage accessible via a web browser from anywhere in the world.

The Humyo.com service has nearly 90TB of storage in a former Bank of England vault and an intelligent interface that senses the type of device accessing it and uses the appropriate interface.

This means you can access your files from a mobile phone and stream music and video to it.

However, the basic service does not allow you to transfer files directly to a local machine: you have to open them and save them from within an application. 25GB of the storage is restricted to multimedia files.

A £29.99-a-year premium service gives you 100GB, data encryption, and software that sets the storage up as an extra drive on your PC.

The software also automatically backs up your PC and allows real-time online collaboration on a document over the web.

Founder Dan Conlon says 100,000 people had already signed up at the end of a six-month beta phase, despite a lack of publicity.

The site also allows users to share folders with friends or embed a player in emails and on sites such as Facebook and Myspace so people can view your pictures or videos.

RAID (Redundant Array of Independent Disks) is a common method of configuring multiple hard drives to perform better and/or provide better protection against data loss than a single hard drive. The concept is fully explained in this Wikipedia Article, including the various RAID levels which can be used, such as RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 5 and RAID 0+1. To set up a basic RAID array you will need two or more hard drives, preferably of the same size and speed, and a motherboard with RAID support. You will then need to set up your drives in the a ppropriate RAID configuration using your motherboard’s BIOS (include any RAID BIOS options), refer to your motherboard’s manual for instructions.

The most commonly used RAID array is a pair of similar drives in RAID 0 formation, which provides the best all‐round performance at minimal cost. RAID 0 usually beats any single hard drive configuration in terms of speed, particularly for gaming, due to there being two independent drive heads constantly seeking data in place of one.

However RAID 0 also provides absolutely no fault tolerance at all, meaning if one of the drives suffers a serious error you lose all your data on both drives since the data is split evenly across both drives. Therefore if you really do require protection against data loss, I recommend a RAID 5 configuration which is more costly but far safer.

While setting up certain RAID arrays (such as RAID 0 and RAID 5), you will need to determine a Stripe Size to be used. In general, if you are uncertain of the size to choose, use the Auto setting (if available), or a 64kb stripe. For gaming purposes, you may consider a smaller stripe size of 16kb, as this can assist in reducing stuttering in games.

In any case once you have connected your drives and set up your RAID array using the options in the motherboards BIOS, you will need to have a floppy disk handy with the correct RAID drivers prior to starting the Windows installation procedure. Then during Windows Setup startup, press the F6 key when prompted at the bottom of the screen, and enter your driver floppy when prompted again and load up the RAID drivers, along with any other drivers (such as SATA drivers) necessary. If you miss this step, the hard drives will not be detected by Windows as one large hard drive, and you will not be able to install Windows.

Once the initial backing up of your data and programs is done, and if you are not going to reformat and reinstall Windows XP, you need to create a new System Restore point as an additional safeguard before doing any tweaking. Using System Restore means that even if you make a large number of changes you can undo these changes using System Restore.

It is strongly recommended that you create a new Restore Point prior to implementing any major tweak or system change at any time by following these steps:

1. Go to Start>Programs>Accessories>System Tools and launch System Restore, or open MSConfig by click on Start>Run>MSConfig, and click the Launch System Restore button.

2. In the System Restore Wizard, click Create a Restore Point and follow the prompts to save your system state in a new restore point.

3. At any time, if you wish to return your computer to the state it was in when you created a particular Restore Point, follow step 1 above to get to the System Restore Wizard. Then click Restore my computer to an earlier time, and select the date on which you created the restore point you wish to return to.

Note if System Restore is enabled, Windows automatically makes restore points under certain circumstances, such as during the installation of drivers, or prior to installation of certain applications. This gives you additional protection against catastrophic changes on your system. However a restore point is not a guarantee that you can just go back to the way things were. In some cases trying to undo a change by going back to a recent restore point won’t work, so only use System Restore as an additional layer of protection and you should always make backups of your important information often, regardless of whether you use System Restore or not.

If your system is currently stable and problem free, and you have made a recent restore point, you can clean out all older restore points except for the latest one by using the Disk Cleanup utility. This frees up a great deal of hard drive space. Finally, note that System Restore will not function if you’ve disabled the System Restore service.