USB Flash Drive Roundup - 10/2005
by Anand Lal Shimpi on October 4, 2005 11:28 AM EST- Posted in
- Memory
Dual Channel Flash Drives
With flash drives, the fewer chips you use, the smaller your device can be and the cheaper it can be as well. It is almost always cheaper for a manufacturer to use one 4Gbit flash device than to use two 2Gbit devices, so as long as there is a high enough density available, you would expect manufacturers to always opt for a single chip flash solution (at least for the memory). Lately, however, some controller manufacturers have offered "dual channel" controllers that allow you to read from/write to multiple flash devices simultaneously; think of it like RAID-0 for flash drives.
The performance boost for a dual channel drive over a single channel drive depends a lot on the type of flash used as well as the controller itself. In many cases, however, a dual channel drive can be up to 2x as fast as a single channel drive.
Most physically larger drives that are branded as high performance drives are dual channel solutions, even if they aren't marketed as such. The cheaper drives end up being single chip/single channel, and of course, the small form factor drives end up being single chip/single channel as well.
With flash drives, the fewer chips you use, the smaller your device can be and the cheaper it can be as well. It is almost always cheaper for a manufacturer to use one 4Gbit flash device than to use two 2Gbit devices, so as long as there is a high enough density available, you would expect manufacturers to always opt for a single chip flash solution (at least for the memory). Lately, however, some controller manufacturers have offered "dual channel" controllers that allow you to read from/write to multiple flash devices simultaneously; think of it like RAID-0 for flash drives.
A multi-channel USB flash drive; note the presence of two flash devices to the right of the OTi controller.
The performance boost for a dual channel drive over a single channel drive depends a lot on the type of flash used as well as the controller itself. In many cases, however, a dual channel drive can be up to 2x as fast as a single channel drive.
Most physically larger drives that are branded as high performance drives are dual channel solutions, even if they aren't marketed as such. The cheaper drives end up being single chip/single channel, and of course, the small form factor drives end up being single chip/single channel as well.
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
39 Comments
View All Comments
LightRider - Tuesday, October 4, 2005 - link
Page 22 Shikatronics ManhattanLightRider - Tuesday, October 4, 2005 - link
Of course I make an error in my post pointing out an error...phisrow - Tuesday, October 4, 2005 - link
I'm glad to have some idea about real world performance specs, to the degree that the volatility of the market allows that, of these drives. Any chance that this, or future, reviews of this kind could test making the drives bootable. Some are easy, some are impossible, and some need some real voodoo to get them working. I'd love to know which is which these days.johnsonx - Tuesday, October 4, 2005 - link
Page 13:"although, neither is obviously full-proof."
yacoub - Tuesday, October 4, 2005 - link
"From top to bottom, a AA battery, Kingston DataTraveler II drive, Kingston DataTraveler Elite."No, not even close.
Elite is on top, DT2 is next, AA battery next, and 9-volt battery on the bottom.
TheInvincibleMustard - Tuesday, October 4, 2005 - link
C'mon, I soooo posted that before you!:p
-TIM
yacoub - Tuesday, October 4, 2005 - link
What's with all the scratches on the Corsair Flash Voyager's USB connector?TheInvincibleMustard - Tuesday, October 4, 2005 - link
I was actually wondering that, too ... what did you do to that poor thing to take the cover off???All in the name of science, eh?
TYPO: Pg 13 ... the caption for the "battery" picture doesn't correspond to the actual picture ... oh ... and just how OLD is that 9V Eveready? It looks like something out of the stonage in comparison to the other things in the picture ...
-TIM
SpaceRanger - Tuesday, October 4, 2005 - link
Stonage?? Sorry.. Couldn't help pointing out a typo in a "typo informative" post../em hides now.
TheInvincibleMustard - Tuesday, October 4, 2005 - link
:pAnd that's all I hafta say about that.
-TIM