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General discussion

Jump Drive For Archiving Photos?

May 7, 2005 8:43AM PDT

Would a jump drive be a good media to permanently store digital photos? Will the quaility be maintained for an indefinite period of time? I've been using writable only CD or DVD's for archiving. Haven't found anything yet that discusses the archival qualities of jump drives.

Discussion is locked

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Stay with what you've been doing particularly the CDs.
May 7, 2005 8:49AM PDT

You're write. The flash memory cards are an unknown, and I would not trust them for long term backup.

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From the datasheet of a common flash memory chip...
May 7, 2005 11:24AM PDT

About 300,000 erase cycles before they don't warrant it. Shelf life is proportional to power on time and humidity (the devices are not hermetically sealed.)

I'd figure 5 years of normal use.

Bob