Double Click
Storage Devices
From external floppy drives to secure flash drives, modern data storage devices are flexible and versatile.
FROM: JAN-FEB 2005 ISSUE | BY ROBERT GAGNON
Since the introduction of personal computers, the ability of manufacturers to accelerate processing speed and compress information has increased dramatically. Even today's cell phones have significantly more computing power than first-generation PCs, which would have been unable to process the lists of phone numbers contained in modern phones. As the ability to compress data improved, storage devices evolved from single-sided floppy disks to more advanced technologies such as CD-ROMs.
The connectivity of external devices has also evolved. Adding an external device to a computer used to require shutting down the hardware, installing drivers manually (often in DOS), restarting the equipment, and hoping the computer didn't freeze. Early generations of "plug-and-play" (part of Windows 95 and 98) would not function in a seamless manner and earned the nickname "plug-and-pray!" Today, you can connect external devices through a universal serial bus (USB) port without crashing your computer or experiencing the blue screen of death thanks to a special feature called dynamic connect, or hot swappable, which has helped boost the popularity of external devices.
Speed and Versatility
One of the main hurdles hardware developers had to overcome was the transmission speed of traditional connections such as serial and parallel ports that didn't lend themselves well to the speed requirements of hard disks or floppy drives. The introduction of USB technology in the late '90s allowed users to connect various external devices such as a mouse, scanner, printer, hard disk, and more. The main benefit of using a USB port is the speed at which information is transmitted: 1.5MB per second for the USB ports compared to 0.115MB per second for the serial and parallel ports — the USB port is 13 times faster.
The other benefit of the USB port is its versatility, as it can accept various types of hardware other ports do not. The advent of USB technology allowed the rapid growth of digital photography, digital imaging, PC-telephony, and video conferencing — areas that were limited by the inflexibility of earlier technology.
All computers now come equipped with a minimum of two USB ports; the standard is four. All current operating systems support USB, but some older systems may require an upgrade or patch. USB ports can be added to older desktops with a PCI bus add-in card and to laptops with a card that plugs in to the PCMCIA slot. Unfortunately, it is not possible to convert a serial or parallel port to a USB port due to speed and configuration differences.
External Storage Devices
USB started making inroads with traditional external storage devices such as hard disks, floppy disk drives, and CD-ROM drives. Before USB, installing external units such as these often became an adventure. In many cases, it was simply easier to buy a new computer that had the desired devices rather than adding new ones as necessary. Today, the hot swappable feature of the USB port allows users to add devices with minimal configuration changes.
Why add a storage device to your computer? The main reason is to add the capacity to back up information. Although tools to protect data exist, many users do not back their files up regularly, and while today's hard drives are sturdier than ever, crashes still occur. Getting a hard disk or a CDR unit plugged into your USB port can help prevent disasters. A number of manufacturers offer them in varying levels of capacity, and prices have also come down significantly, making the external device an affordable solution to your backup needs.
USB Flash Drives
In recent years, ongoing development in data compression resulted in the commercialization of flash storage technology. USB flash drives represent an economical way to share files in a secure environment. USB flash drives are small devices (2 inches long by 1/2 inch wide) that look like a stick of chewing gum, and range in capacity from 64MB to 1GB. They can be used for a number of applications and are useful when a group of people needs to exchange files. For example, a due diligence team working on M&A activity in the offices of another party will use USB flash drives extensively to share information among themselves, but also to obtain files from the other party. This method of exchange is significantly more secure than transferring files via e-mail. Also, compared to e-mail, size restrictions are less stringent when using USB flash drives.
Other applications for the USB flash drives include audit teams at customer sites and anytime multiple users need to share files without being connected to a single network. This is also a very economical way to share information with lower capacity USB flash drives starting at less than $100.
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Looking Ahead
With the raised consciousness around data security, manufacturers are looking at new ways to make USB storage devices more secure than ever. A Montreal-based company called Memory Experts has come up with a product that combines all the benefits of USB flash drives with the security of biometrics. Clipdrive Bio was launched last year and is the first to offer security features to ensure that sensitive material remains out of the public domain.
The product has two partitions: public and private. The public partition is available as soon as the clip drive is plugged into the USB port. What makes Clipdrive Bio different from other flash drives is the private partition, which can only be accessed by the user, as there is a built-in biometric reader to authenticate the user's fingerprint.
"Protecting information requires tight security measures," says Guadalupe Reusing, president of Memory Experts. "Clipdrive Bio offers security as well as portability, and Memory Experts can customize security features for large customers to have unique security algorithms."
The launch of USB 2.0 in 2003 meant a transfer data rate 40 times faster than with USB 1.1. With the price of large capacity hard disks falling fast (Ximeta's NetDisk Office external 250GB hard disk drive now sells for about $600), USB 2.0 increases the options for upgrading computers. USB 2.0 also provides greater flexibility for users. With the addition of features such as biometrics, the popularity of USB flash drives will likely continue to increase. Who would have thought 20 years ago that more than 1GB of information could be transported in a device the size of a stick of gum and secure enough for spies to use? Probably the same people who are working on the storage and connectivity innovations we will see over the next 20 years!
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Robert Gagnon, CGA, is vice-president and general manager, eastern Canada, for the Frisco Bay Industries division of Stanley Security Solutions Canada, in Montreal. He has served on Canada Customs and Revenue Agency's technical advisory group on electronic commerce.
"Double Click" is co-ordinated by John W. Yu, M.Sc., CDP, FCGA. Yu has been in the IT industry since 1970 in a broad range of roles in technology and in management. He is vice-president, Information Technology, at CGA-Canada.