Are there tools to probe flash controllers for usage history?

[Bradley Hook]

> On Jan 14, 2008 9:16 PM, Oren Beck <orenbeck at gmail.com> wrote:
>> 1. IS a device with 80% of it's estimated "life" used still "Stable" for
>> archive use? Defined as whatever data is the "Last Writes" remaining stable
>> for the same # of years as a written to "less" device or not. With
>> qualifiers on confidence levels and non-obvious issues.

Media is cheap. Media goes bad. I have yet to meet a media that I could 
reliable set in a fire-proof safe and depend on for true archival 
purposes, because either the media will go bad or the device interface 
will become obsolete. Even printing hard-copies with many modern InkJets 
is worthless, because the ink is only expected to remain readable for a 
relatively short period of time (even special inks are only expected to 
have a 100 year shelf life, and I maintain paper records older than 
that). Also, flash drives do have exposed metal contacts which can 
corrode or wear off.

Since media is continually becoming cheaper per MB, it only makes sense 
to "upgrade" your archived data every couple years. This allows you to 
consolidate stuff when it becomes scattered (it always does), and ensure 
that all of your data is still readable. I usually find that by doing 
this, the amount of physical storage room I need to store my data stays 
roughly the same over time, because larger capacity media becomes 
available. You should also make a habit of storing copies of 
applications needed to open your files.

~Bradley