What is USB Flash Drive?

What is USB Flash Drive? What is the specific definition of USB Flash Drive?

2018-07-07

U disk, full name USB flash drive. It is a miniature high capacity mobile storage product that uses a USB interface and does not require a physical drive. It is connected to a computer via a USB interface for plug and play.

The name of the U disk was originally derived from a new type of storage device produced by Netac Technology, named "USB", which is connected using a USB interface. Aftre the USB flash drive is connected to the USB interface of the computer, the data of the USB flash drive can be exchanged with the computer. The equipment of similar technology produced afterwards has been patented by Netac, and can no longer be called "USB", but renamed the "U disk" of homophonic. Later, the U disk was widely known for its easy-to-remember and was one of the mobile storage devices. There are many U-disks that support multiple ports on the market, namely, OTG USB Drive (USB computer port, IOS Apple interface, Android interface).

The composition of the U disk is very simple, mainly composed of the outer casing + movement, of which:

1. Movement: The movement includes a PCB + USB master chip + crystal + chip resistor, capacitor + USB interface + patch LED (not all U disk) + Flash chip

2. Shell: classified by material, ABS plastic, bamboo, metal, leahtre, silicone, PVC software, ect.; classified by style, card, pen, mini, cartoon, business, simulation, ect.; classified by function, encrypted, Anti-virus, waterproof, intelligent, ect.

3. For some special shape PVC U discs, sometimes special packaging is specially made;

Compared to other portable storage devices (especially floppy disks), flash drives have many advantages: they take up less space and usually operate faster(USB1.1, 2.0, 3.0, 3.1 standards), and can store more datas. And the performance is more reliable(because there is no mechanical equipment), disconnected during reading and writing without damaging the hardware [poor quality may occur (the floppy disk is broken immediately after reading and writing)], only date is lost. This type of disk uses the USB mass storage device standard, and has built-in support in modern operating systems such as Linux, Mac OS X, Unix and Windows2000, XP, Win7, Win8, Win8.1, Win 10; Flash drives typically use ABS plastic or metal casings and contain a small printed circuit board that is small enough to fit into a pocket like a key ring charm or stringed onto a neckline. ONly the USB connector protrudes beyong the protective case and is usually covered by a small cover. Most flash drives use the standard Type- A USB connector, which allows them to be plugged directly into a USB port on a PC.

To access the data on the flash drivem you must connect the flash drive to your computer; either directly to the computer's built-in USB controller or a USB hub. The flash drive will only boot when plugged into the USB port, and the required power is also supplied by the USB connection. However, some flash drives (especially high- speed flash drives using the USB 2.0 standard) may require more power, so if they are connected to a USB hub like a keyboard or screen, these flash drives will not work unless they are directly plug in the controller (that is, the USB port provided by the computer itself) or a USB hub with an external power supply. Some U diskes are composed of a drive and a USB flash drive, so it is necessary to distinguish them at the end (in DOS/win32 environment).

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