Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
U3 was a joint venture between SanDisk and M-Systems, [1] producing a proprietary method of launching Windows software from special USB flash drives. Flash drives adhering to the U3 specification are termed "U3 smart drives". U3 smart drives come preinstalled with the U3 Launchpad.
StartKey will turn USB-based flash drives into a “Windows companion” that will allow users to carry their Windows and Windows Live settings with them. It will work with other formats, including SD memory cards .
A flash drive (also thumb drive, memory stick, and pen drive/pendrive) [1] [note 1] is a data storage device that includes flash memory with an integrated USB interface. A typical USB drive is removable, rewritable, and smaller than an optical disc , and usually weighs less than 30 g (1 oz).
M-systems was competing in the flash market with SanDisk, but the introduction of the USB drive made a cooperative environment more financially advantageous. In 2004, the two companies entered into a strategic agreement with cross licensing of patents to develop new USB drive platforms introduced in 2005. [ 4 ]
SanDisk co-founder Eli Harari developed the Floating Gate EEPROM which proved the practicality, reliability and endurance of semiconductor-based data storage. [7] In 1991, SanDisk produced the first flash-based solid-state drive (SSD) in a 2.5-inch hard disk drive form factor for IBM with a 20 MB capacity priced at about $1,000. [8]
This is done through the use of Windows-based software that must be installed to use the FlashCP capability of the drive. The software interfaces with proprietary firmware in the flash drive. SanDisk manufactured a flash drive using the FlashCP technology, the 256MB Cruzer Freedom Drive.
USB Attached SCSI (UAS) or USB Attached SCSI Protocol (UASP) is a computer protocol used to move data to and from USB storage devices such as hard drives (HDDs), solid-state drives (SSDs), and thumb drives. UAS depends on the USB protocol, and uses the standard SCSI command set.
Desktop hard drives can sustain anywhere from 2 to 10 times the transfer speed of USB 2.0 flash drives but are equal to or slower than USB 3.0 and Firewire (IEEE 1394) for sequential data. USB 2.0 and faster flash drives have faster random access times: typically around 1 ms, compared to 12 ms for mainstream desktop hard drives.