Reliable Durable Long life Flash Drive

[Goldskis45]

[FONT=&quot]I am in need of a reliable Flash drive that is long lasting and durable. This is slightly out of my area of expertise.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Background on why:[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]I work for a company that makes aluminum cast parts. We make the molds to cast the parts. We also machine and powder coat them. The average program for machining a part is less than 1MB if even more than a hand full of KB. But that is just simple paths on a few planes.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]We also make the molds for casting the parts. The programs for the molds average around 15KB. [I know a whole 15KB! (sarcasm leaking from my ears)] Because they have a large number of lines due to having to follow part geometry not just basic paths.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]We have some old and some new CNC machines in our machine shop where we do final modifications on parts. In the machine shop we transfer the programs over the network into the CNC machines memory and run the program off the machine. [/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]In our tooling shop we have two very very VERY old CNC machines.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]This is the small one: [/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]We just recently modded our program transfer system to use a modern USB adapter.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]The only catch is we can’t upload the programs 100% into the machines in the Mold Shop because their memory space is only 256KB and 512KB. So we use a File streaming system called DNC (not the wireless kind obviously).[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]This loads a chunk of the program into the memory (up to its capacity) as a buffer. As the machine executes lines in the program it deletes the used lines to make space in the buffer for incoming data. [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]This creates a “spoon feeding” effect on the USB Flash Drive. [/FONT]This causes excessive wear and tear.

[FONT=&quot]As far as I know, Flash Drives are designed to migrate data as fast as they can and in whole from point to point. With the DNC method we are forced to use, it causes the drive to “trickle” small bits of data constantly for long periods of time Minimum run time is usually 10 minutes. Maximum is usually around 6 hours because they will split programs into pieces. (If strung together some complex molds would run for 12-24hours straight.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]We have had a few flash drives start to fail when running DNC on the machines causing the program to stop in the middle. Toss the program on a fresh drive and it runs fine…[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot](This is extremely bad as it will stop the machine from moving but the spindle with the cutting tool in it will stay running… And when you let a program run overnight, you can see where this could cause problems.) [/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]So in short… well… this post is long anyway…[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]I need a flash drive that is capable of constant inconsistent ... did I just say that?... Reads over long periods of time without faulting out… [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Any input on what drives would be good for this would be greatly appreciated… Or a point in the right direction to drives that are designed for such a thing or something similar.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Thanks a bunch,[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Steve

Edit: And if you didn't catch it, size doesn't matter... Oh god why... anyway... the ones that we keep killing are $5 4GB kingstons... so less than that is still fine.
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[Excalabur50]

I doubt whether any flash drive is designed to do what you need about the only thing i could suggest is try different brands until you find one that works now i know this is a pain in the ass but i think it may be your only option or send the manufacturers an email and tell them of your needs and can they help. Good luck.

 

[jimbo32]

You could always try an external USB HDD, couldn't you? Buy a cheap enclosure and throw in an old mechanical drive - it might not be as convenient as a thumb drive, but it would likely last a lot longer.

 

[Jeremy1998]

+1 to the HDD. Flash memory isn't really made to be used like that. If there was a way to use RAM, that would be awesome... But I highly doubt that that is possible... So a HDD is probably second best.

 

[SnW]

I worked for 14years with CNC machines, all kinds off
sorry that was all.....

 

[Goldskis45]

Hmmm, i like the external HDD idea, but i dont know if the controller would support it :/ also the port is kindof on the side of the controll box on the front. So it would be hanging off the side of the machine... I guess ill start with the emails...

Edit: if i did go the external enclosure route it would have to be a SSD. These machines can cause an insane amount of vibration when doing rough cuts and removing large amounts of metal.

 

[Jeremy1998]

also the port is kindof on the side of the controll box on the front. So it would be hanging off the side of the machine...

Velcro

 

[Goldskis45]

Velcro

Things like velcro don't last well in a machine shop XP

 

[jimbo32]

There's always the handyman's secret weapon.

 

[Jeremy1998]

There's always the handyman's secret weapon.

Apparently I'm not a handyman, because I have no clue what you're talking about.

 

[yassarikhan786]

There's always the handyman's secret weapon.

Are you talking about duct tape

 

[Goldskis45]

I totally would, but the bossman would proly yell at me...

 

[jimbo32]

Apparently I'm not a handyman, because I have no clue what you're talking about.

I was kidding. Duct tape. Don't they have the Red Green Show where you live?

 

[Goldskis45]

Well I just called Kingston... They recommended the SSD option... He was very helpful. Lol, at first he asked if we could send him the system to test it out LOL, It took him a second to realize it was an actual CNC machine not just a computer running it XD. I guess I will just have to give it a try...