On 2/27/24 10:29, Carlos E. R. wrote:
On 2024-02-27 17:34, Lew Wolfgang wrote:
On 2/27/24 03:30, Carlos E. R. wrote:
On 2024-02-27 05:49, Lew Wolfgang wrote:
Also, I have no issue myself with USB thumb drives. Indeed, I've got a 256GB one permanently plugged into the back of my desktop. I use it for daily backups of important things, like my ssh private keys to get into remote servers.
Thumb drives (sticks) fail eventually. That technology has a limited number of writes. How long they will last is an unknown. There is no SMART, there is no wear levelling.
I understand, but I've been using mine for more than 10-years, running rsync's to it from a daily cron job. It's storing 186GB right now in an XFS filesystem.
But you have a point, maybe I should get a new one and retire the old one just in case. I think the old one is even USB2.
Why don't you get an SSD of a similar size? Prices are quite reasonable.
They even make them in nvme form factor (maybe they are nvme inside, dunno):
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Seagate-Firecuda-Gaming-External-Solid/dp/B0839T2V2...
I've got nvme, ssd, and multiple spinners inside my desktop. My use-case for this is a small device I can plug into the back of the chassis to back up important stuff should the desktop crash. It's not a full backup, but just enough to get me quickly started on another computer if necessary. I ran into this problem once when I couldn't easily access my ssh private keys. It stays plugged in 24/7 and is out of the way. No muss nor fuss. I can get a 256GB USB 3.2 name-brand thumb drive for less than $20 on Amazon. Indeed, I've got a new'ish 256-GB thumb drive right here in my drawer that I was using to store music files for Pochahontas. I think I'll just use that for backups instead. I've another one for tunes in the car. The existing backup drive is rather old. but it's still working! I just took a look at it and I started using it on Dec 17, 2014. Regards, Lew