Understanding Data Storage - By: Zinxed

They many types of storage available these days and choosing a solution for your needs can be confusing. The two most popular storage solutions these days are flash memory and hard drives.

Flash memory comes in two main forms:

1. Flash Cards which are generally used for devices like cameras & mobile phones. Card types are as follows:

CompactFlash (CF-I)

Memory Stick

MultiMediaCard (MMC)

Secure Digital card (SD)

MiniSD Card

SmartMedia

xD-Picture Card (xD)

2. USB Flash Drives which can be used to store data from PC & Mac's in a very portable format and are connected to the USB port.

Typical sizes these day are 512MB, 1GB, 2GB, 4GB, 8Gb, 16GB, 32GB & 64GB

Hard Drives fitted externally are generally connected by either USB or Network connection.

These drives are good for storing large amounts of data and/or backing up data, which is a vital consideration these days as most of us have a collection of documents, pictures, music and video that we don't want to lose.

To simplify the backup process, it's best to use backup software. There are many options free and paid for available, but my preference is Cobian Backup. Version 10 is now available, which can copy open files. A handy feature which allows backup of files you are using at the time of the backup.

You can get Cobian Backup 10 here

Typical USB External Hard Drive sizes are 160GB, 320GB, 500GB, 1TB, 1.5TB & 2TB

Typical Network attached Hard Drive sizes range from 500GB up to 8TB

To assess what size of drive is suitable for your backup needs you need to find out how big the hard drive is inside your PC or laptop. To do this, go to the start button, then select "computer" or "my computer" depending on which version of Windows you are using. Then select the "C:" drive, right click and select properties. The capacity will then be displayed.

You can find a selection of the storage options at Zinxed.com

About the Author

Jon Campbell is a PC engineer and Webmaster of http://zinxed.com

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