They are water- and magnetic-resistant with attractive features of portability and security. In technical jargon, USB is defined as Serial Universal Bus which has the ability to store data and interface with a personal computer. The USB devices also allow for the usage of standardized interface to provide communication with the host computer enabling usage and installation on modern operating systems. Traditionally, USB devices can be classified into two categories of:

• Mass storage devices such as hard drives, memory card readers and keydrives



• Flash drives supported by modern operating systems of Linux, Mac OS X, Unix and Windows

The EZ USB Drive: This latest USB mass storage device came into existence in 1995 and gained prominence only after 2002. Today it is used widely by various economic sectors of British society. Its main features include its lightweight size and shape coupled with its portability. The EZ drive offers great storage space reading and writing at massive speeds. The drive is completely resistant to water and to any magnetic or temperature variation. The drive lends itself to archiving and does not break in case of any kind of physical movement i.e. the interior disk platters do not get damaged even if the drive falls from a height or is dropped accidentally. It is water-resistant and does not incur any maintenance cost. The drive comes equipped with a microscopic scanner which cleans and regularly inspects the disk interior platters for any dust or bacteria particles. In addition, the drive has partition and security functions enabling users to create password-protected sectors for the storage of personal or highly confidential material. The drive's exterior is made of CNC-milled, 6061 Type 2 Aluminum which is the same material used in aircraft manufacturing. Hence, the EZ drive comes across as physically robust armed with a solid inbuilt memory and security system. The drive is capable of protecting itself against virus attacks and hackers using encrypted password codes. This ensures maximum data security. The drive is affordable costing about 40 pounds.

The Sushi-Disk: Developed in Japan in 2004, the Sushi-Disk is the USB answer to optical storage equipment. The Sushi-disk is a USB flash drive storage device used to store and modify documents, photos, spreadsheets, i-tunes and movies at great speeds i.e. three-five times faster than the traditional USB device. Physically, it can be described as a flash memory device with soft, plastic malleable aluminum moulded body. The disk does not require any installation being small and compact in size and shape. It is completely automatic in function having no need for batteries equipped to work on any modern PC or MAC. It can be described as a temporary reliable speedy storage device which works on electricity. The Sushi-disk lends itself to archiving facilities.

The possibility of data recovery from modern USB devices has been greatly reduced. The introduction of water- and magnetic-resistant USB devices has changed the entire face of data recovery. In addition, modern USB devices lay emphasis on the role of security. Thus, modern flash USB devices come equipped with data access controls eradicating the advent of viruses and man-made disasters. The usage of encrypted password security codes also makes it highly possible for users to save confidential information. This makes modern USB devices the prime choice of storage by the banking and technology industry. Even the physical aspect of the USB device has undergone a change. They have become stronger, unbreakable, and immune to any kind of damage leading to minimal data loss. The only drawback is that some modern USB devices have a temporary memory which is erased after a short time. This makes it difficult for the user to store any private important information for a long time. But the modern USB device does lend itself to theft owing to its small shape and portability feature. In short, the fundamental features of a modern USB device include:

• Is compact, lightweight and portable



• Less expensive and readily available due to mass manufacture and low production costs



• Storage capacity ranging from 32 MB- 64 MB



• Safe and convenient



• Minimal data loss due to inbuilt security mechanisms and aluminum casing which protect the drive



• Automatic in nature -- no need to reboot on insertion of the drive



• Portable in nature



• Requires no installation



• Sometimes, runs on electricity



• Compatible with all operating systems including an older version of Windows



• The USB drive comes equipped with an internal power source