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How long does data last on a USB flash drive?

Sep, 08 2023

Need to safely store your digital content longer, either regularly transfer the content to newer flash drives every 5 years or so, or put that digital content on OPTODISC optical discs for 50+ year archival life.

There are so many options for storing digital content these days, which is necessary because we are creating so much more digital content than in the past. Often the easiest way is to load in the cloud or store on some time of flash memory device, like a USB, SD/MicroSD card, SSD, etc. The problem is that the cloud is out of your control and typically comes with a monthly expense, while flash memory, including USB drives, SD/MricoSD cards, SSD hard drives, and the like have relatively short lifespans when it comes to guaranteeing the safe keeping of your content. The typical lifespan for flash memory is up to 10 years, even the top grade options. That’s why it’s recommended not to keep critical information only on one storage medium and to transfer content from older drives onto newer ones every few years or so. That is unless you are storing that content on high quality optical discs, like the OPTODISC line.

High grade optical discs, like the OPTODISC manufactured recordable CD’s, DVD’s, and Blu-ray all have a 50+ year archival life when stored properly, make the lifespan more than 5 times longer than even the top quality flash media. Optical discs are not susceptible to losing electrons or weather and dust related issues that could cause havoc on flash memory. Instead, optical discs are far more resilient and have a much longer lifespan that flash when compared side by side. That’s why optical discs have been and remain the ideal storage for true archival purposes.

If you really want to back up data over a truly long period of time, you should consider using OPTODISC optical media as the safest and most cost effective option.

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