Flash Drive/Zip Drive Backups

[Grinder]

Is there any reason why backing up to a flash drive would be inferior to
backup up to a Zip disk?

 

[kony]

Is there any reason why backing up to a flash drive would be inferior to
backup up to a Zip disk?

Generally speaking flash drives are more reliable, but not
foolproof.

They're more resistant to damage and generally more reliable
than a zip disk, though a good quality zip disc might retain
data for longer than the typical 10 year period cited by
many flash manufacturers, BUT would the zip drive itself
last that long? They seem troublesome enough when brand
new. Periodically refreshing, rewriting the data on the
flash drive seems the best option of the two.

Which type of flash drive are you considering, only the USB
thumbdrive style? By eliminating the card reader you
eliminate one failure point, as USB sockets are easy to come
by, but by putting the USB connector on the thumbdrive you
have a less reliable PCB to connector stress point than if
using a flash card with only gold plated contacts directly
on the PCB. Some flash thumbdrives do have the contacts
directly on the PCB but these are often designed to be as
thin as possible (whole drive size) with thin casings giving
less protection.

Ultimately it's hard to forsee how it might be damaged till
it happens, so consider where you'll use it, like whether
it's to be carried around in your pocket or not, used by
someone else who might not be as gentle with it as you might
be.

There do seem to be some flash thumbdrives not as reliable
as others (but unfortunately some owners just report that
theirs quit working without any specifics about what they
think was (let alone proof of) the failure mechanism).
Someplace like Newegg, which has a lot of user reviews of
the more popular products, might give some idea if
particular designs seem more prone to failure in general
use.

 

[Grinder]

Generally speaking flash drives are more reliable, but not
foolproof.

They're more resistant to damage and generally more reliable
than a zip disk, though a good quality zip disc might retain
data for longer than the typical 10 year period cited by
many flash manufacturers, BUT would the zip drive itself
last that long? They seem troublesome enough when brand
new. Periodically refreshing, rewriting the data on the
flash drive seems the best option of the two.

Which type of flash drive are you considering, only the USB
thumbdrive style?
Yep.

By eliminating the card reader you
eliminate one failure point, as USB sockets are easy to come
by, but by putting the USB connector on the thumbdrive you
have a less reliable PCB to connector stress point than if
using a flash card with only gold plated contacts directly
on the PCB. Some flash thumbdrives do have the contacts
directly on the PCB but these are often designed to be as
thin as possible (whole drive size) with thin casings giving
less protection.

Ultimately it's hard to forsee how it might be damaged till
it happens, so consider where you'll use it, like whether
it's to be carried around in your pocket or not, used by
someone else who might not be as gentle with it as you might
be.

There do seem to be some flash thumbdrives not as reliable
as others (but unfortunately some owners just report that
theirs quit working without any specifics about what they
think was (let alone proof of) the failure mechanism).
Someplace like Newegg, which has a lot of user reviews of
the more popular products, might give some idea if
particular designs seem more prone to failure in general
use.

Thanks for the remarks.

 

[Roby]

Is there any reason why backing up to a flash drive would be inferior to
backup up to a Zip disk?

I installed a small DOS network at a veterinary clinic in 1997. Daily data
backup was to 100 mb Zip disks written by the just-released parallel port
Zip drive. They replaced that system last month: used the same disks and
drive six days a week for ten years! Every second backup was verified
with file-by-file compare and results logged. It never failed. Amazing.