USB flash drive

A USB flash drive (USB stands for Universal Serial Bus) is a popular way to store digital information. Flash drives are an easy way to share data (information). A USB flash drive can be attached to a USB port, and provides a certain amount of storage space, which can be used to store data. USB flash drives are used with devices found in homes, workplaces and schools. Below are some examples of these devices:

• Computers
• Digital versatile disc (called DVD) players
• Video game consoles
• Music players
• Digital picture frames

They are called "flash drive" because they use flash memory to store files. Flash memory is a type of computer chip. The first flash drives had 8 megabytes of storage. Each year, larger flash drives will become available. In April 2012, 256 gigabyte flash drives were introduced to the market.

Other common names for a flash drive include jumpdrive, pendrive, thumbdrive or simply USB.

USB flash drives have some advantages over other portable storage devices. They are physically much smaller and more rugged than floppy disks. They can read data faster, and store more data than floppy disks. Floppy disks have become obsolete when the price of USBs has become cheaper.