I recently received a call from a client who had all their data backed up on a USB thumb drive. Unfortunately, the USB part was metal and the casing on the thumb drive was plastic, so it was not very sturdy. He had the thumb drive in his pocket and accidentally broke it. The connector that connects to his computer had bent, so he could no longer insert it into his computer and was unable to retrieve the data he had backed up on the thumb drive.
So I met him later that day to pick up the USB thumb drive to take it back to my office to try and repair it, but it was unrepairable. The only solution was to send it to a data recovery location. The cost was going to be between $900 and $3000. The cost wasn’t in his budget so the result was he lost all his data.
The lesson learned is don’t use cheap thumb drives for your backups and have your backups in more than one location.
Here are a few things for you to know about USB thumb drives:
USB standards like the, 3.1, 3.0, 2.0, etc defines the data transfer speed and the function of the USB cable, while the USB ports or plugs like USB type A, type B, type C, etc defines the shape of the cable plugs and ports.
USB stands for Universal Serial Bus. The regular USB is no longer used. It was very slow according to today’s standards (transfer rate of 1.5 MB per second). It was replaced by…
USB-2 which can still be used. It’s a faster technology with a transfer rate of up to 480 MB. Some people still use this older type of thumb drive, but it was eventually replaced by…
USB-3 which is still relevant today. It has a transfer rate of 5 GB per second, USB-3.1 is the same as USB-3 but with a transfer rate up to a 10 GB per second. Now all manufacturers are going to the….
USB-C for standardization and reversability. It is a smaller connector so you will need an adaptor to connect a USB-3 to a USB-C port. It also supports bi-directional power so charging can go both ways. You can charge your smartphone with the computer or charge your computer with your smartphone.
USB-C PD is a power delivery spec that can provide up to 100W of power, which means that you can plug in a laptop and charge it.
Both USB-C and USB-C PD will work with Apple lightning connector or USB-4. It will work on both Apple and Windows computers.
USB-4 getting ready to launch and should be available by the end of this year. Its transfer rate is an astounding 40 GB per second.
So that gives you some history of the technology behind USB thumb drives. Now you have a better idea of what to look for when searching for a thumb drive as far as technology.
Here is my recommendation for the physical attributes you should look for when purchasing a USB thumb drive.
Buy a USB that is solid metal (usually made of aluminum) with no moving pieces. Some have protection for the USB piece that slides back into the USB case which is made of some type of aluminum or aluminum with plastic around it. So the part of the thumb drive that actually goes into the computer is protected.
If the client I mentioned at the beginning of this email had used this type thumb drive he would still have his data.
Another recommendation its to have your data backed up in multiple locations.
If you’re interested in learning more about securing your computer systems, send an email to jnay@jimnay.com. You can also call or text us at 615-443-4842.
All the best,
Jim Nay
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