usb flash as storage media

[Sasa]

Hello everybody,

I am considering using usb flash as the only storage media for a kiosk. The
system would be there and the app would write on the media. The app itself
doesn't do a lot of writing - couple of small log entries every now and
then, but basically not much and not often.

Questions:
1) Is it at all possible to boot from usb memory?
2) How reliable would such solution be, what is expected duration of flash
media (number of reads / writes) compared to hard disks?

Thank you in advance for your answers,
Sasa

 

[Sean Liming \(MVP\)]

1. Yes, with Feature Pack 2007 XPE can boot from a USB flash disk devices.
The BIOS needs to support USB 2.0 and possibly emulate the USB flash disk as
a hard drive.
2. Flash life has improved quite a bit over the years, but same with CF
cards it is good to protect the life of the flash using one of the Write
Filters - FBWF is probably the way to go since you want to preserve data
between boots.

Regards,

Sean Liming
www.sjjmicro.com / www.seanliming.com
Book Author - XP Embedded Advanced, XP Embedded Supplemental Toolkit