October, 2012 – Graham Miln

Tiny Storage

We are preparing to travel again. Each time I board a plane I worry about back ups. Do I have enough? Are they recent? What if I lose my luggage?

Last year I bought two external hard disk drives. Both powered by a single USB cable and each drive measuring about the size of a pack of playing cards. Those drives have huge capacities, 1 TB, and are great fit for Mac OS X’s encrypted Time Machine back ups.

Those same drives are perfect for carrying in our hand luggage. But I still worry about losing luggage or being separated from my back pack. I wanted something that never left my person.

So in my latest Amazon order I added my smallest back up widget yet.

The tiny 16GB USB drive close up; the connector is larger than the electronics.
The tiny 16GB USB drive close up; the connector is larger than the electronics.

Small enough to fit in my wallet, I have added a tiny 16 GB USB drive to my array of back ups. I am constantly delighted and surprised at just how small and inexpensive solid state drives are becoming.

I hope never to have to rely on any of these drives but I know that one day I will have to.

Because a tea spoon is the obvious comparison.

Small enough to easily lose; a cover clips over the connector.
Small enough to easily lose; a cover clips over the connector.