Will USB thumb drive wear out fast?

[Wojo]

First of all, I really enjoy Knoppix 6.2.1. It's the first Knoppix I've used, but it's much better than Windows. I installed to 8GB USB thumb drive, and also have persistent image (aes) on it as well. However, I'm not sure how much of a toll it's taking on the life cycle of the thumb drive. Should I be concerned? Is there a way to control how often Knoppix writes data to the thumb drive?

[krishna.murphy]

First of all, I really enjoy Knoppix 6.2.1. It's the first Knoppix I've used, but it's much better than Windows. I installed to 8GB USB thumb drive, and also have persistent image (aes) on it as well. However, I'm not sure how much of a toll it's taking on the life cycle of the thumb drive. Should I be concerned? Is there a way to control how often Knoppix writes data to the thumb drive?

Hey, Wojo-

I use the same setup, and had similar concern. After checking around, I found a report on flash that said tests showed that name-brand flash memory lasted much longer than the guaranteed 10,000 write cycles. Also, there is wear-leveling built in to make it last longer (less wear on any given cell => less likely to stop working anytime soon.)

Cheers!
Krishna

[Wojo]

Hey, Wojo-

I use the same setup, and had similar concern. After checking around, I found a report on flash that said tests showed that name-brand flash memory lasted much longer than the guaranteed 10,000 write cycles. Also, there is wear-leveling built in to make it last longer (less wear on any given cell => less likely to stop working anytime soon.)

Cheers!
Krishna

Thanks for the info. I remember years ago when my hard drive started acting up, the computer wouldn't simply tell me my hard drive was failing - instead I got miscellaneous errors that led me down different paths, and then ultimately I discovered the hd failed. What a pain! So maybe this thumb drive failing would do the same...

Now I know it should be awhile before I need to replace it. And yes, I always backup my data.

Thanks again.

[krishna.murphy]

If you want to keep track of your HDD (good idea, IMHO), you need to enable SMART on it. Don't know why OFF is the default, but it is. You can do a quick search for "Hiren's boot CD" (look for a Thai server, much faster.) There's a utility in the hard drive section that does that, and a lot of other good stuff - I'd recommend having it on hand for the future, too.

Cheers!
Krishna