With today’s increase storage demands of digital images, video, and music, magnetic tape still remains clunky and certainly doesn’t satisfy the diverse needs of the average home computer user. But there are plenty of other modern day external media devices that provide viable backup options.

Today we’ll take a look at one of the simplest and most efficient external backup media devices, the USB Flash Drive.

USB Flash Drives:

Commonly referred to as jump drives, thumb drives, or data sticks, these versatile little devices are really not a bad way to go to backup a computer. They’re reusable, highly portable, and they are not affected by magnets. Installation is a breeze with these little guys. You just plug them in and you’re ready to drag and drop your files onto them.

Ultra Backup 64 GB One Touch Backup

The latest generation of these devices is represented by the Ultra Backup 64GB USB Flash Dr by SanDisk. It can store up to 64 gigabytes of data on one little stick. It has a one touch backup button which makes it extremely easy to use. Just push the button and you’re done. Additionally, you can password protect it with AES encryption. This baby costs around $180.

Of course, you don’t have to go with the top-of-the-line. SanDisk, as well as other manufacturers make flash drives with less storage and fewer features that can serve your backup needs. Flash drives come in many different sizes, 250MB, 1GB, 2GB, 4GB, 8GB etc. You can actually get a small, simple flash drive for less than $10.

Sandisk is the leader in the field of flash drives and you can check out their entire line here:SanDisk Flash Drives

On the flip side, the size and portability of these versatile little devices can actually be a drawback when it comes to using them for backup. They are easy to lose. When dropped, they’re easy to step on. I myself have crushed a couple underfoot. They’re also vulnerable to natural disaster, moister, and theft.