How Does a Flash Drive Store Information?
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Emulation
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The way that flash drives store Information is directly related to the way your computer interacts with the drive. When you insert the flash drive into your computer it enters emulation mode. This means that the drive sends information to the computer that governs its interaction. The flash drive emulates another hard drive, which allows you to drag and drop items on the flash drive just like you would on a regular hard drive.
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Writing Data
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Flash drives write data using a specially-made microprocessor contained in the unit. This microprocessor uses the Electrically Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory (EEPROM) storage protocol, which is notable for its rapid data transfers, and is also used in other data storage devices. However, the way flash drives use the EEPROM is a little different. In flash drives, the EEPROM can be electrically programmed and erased using field electron emission, during a process known as "tunneling." This allows for faster transmission of smaller chunks of data.
Degradation
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Because the tunneling and the EEPROM use electron properties to write data to a flash drive, the drive will degrade over time. The flash drive will not suffer from data loss, but the drive's write speed will become noticeably smaller, until the flash drive is unable to write altogether. The time that this occurs can vary by flash drive, but it normally happens after about 90 million individual writes, which means it will be quite a long time before you see the effects of this degradation.
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