A pen drive is a device that allows people to quickly transfer documents–be they audio, video, text or graphic–from one computer to the other in as little time as possible. Commonly referred to as jump drives, these small portable USB flash memory devices are small enough to fit in a pocket. Because of their size and the fact that they have a shape similar to a pen or pencil, they gained the name pen drives.
A pen drive is an example of NAND otherwise known as flash memory. Because of the memory capabilities, it is a considerable step up from pervious methods of storing data–floppy disk and CD. Because of the speed in which they load, they have become a favorite amongst people carrying files around from place to place.
Pen drives come in many sizes ranging from 512 mb up to as many as 64 GB. Despite the small size of the 512 mb, it can hold a considerable number of files that would normally be found on a hard drive such as word documents. However, when transporting larger documents such as video and audio, it helps to have a much larger pen drive or even an external hard drive in some cases.
While there are so many different types of pen drives out there and, more importantly, a handful of different operating systems, it is important to pay attention to what systems the pen drive runs on. Typically, they are universal so long as the computer has a USB port. If it does, by inserting the USB half of the pen drive into the computer will open a folder to allow files to be brought over.
Each year, the pen drive grows considerably in storage capabilities. While the size of the space available on the pen drive increases, the space of the actual drive stays the same. In other words, pen drives are consistently staying small and mobile.
