Re: Do bootable USB sticks have a date of expiry?

On 8/19/26 10:25 AM, Michael wrote:
> On Wednesday, 19 August 2026 13:19:30 British Summer Time Dale wrote:
>> They
>> are placed in a sandwich style case with a USB connector.  I do have
>> those little thermal pads to make sure the heat transfers to the
>> case.  They run pretty cool but I don't usually have them plugged in
>> to long anyway.
> The thermal pads & heat spreader are needed for the controller chip.
> This needs to be kept cool to stop thermal throttling or even failure.
> However, the memory chips themselves do not need cooling in most
> hardware setups.  They need to reach a normal operating temperature to
> enable reliable P/E cycles.  I added a thermal pad on my M.2 stick along
> its entire length, but if I were to do it again I would only add a pad
> at the controller chip - YMMV.
>
> Given that garbage collection takes place when the drives are idle, it
> is a good idea to leave them connected for a while after you finish
> writing data to them.  You won't have to wait for days like with SMRs,
> but waiting for an hour or two won't cause any harm.
>


I noticed on my main rig that the controller runs much warmer than the 
actual memory chips.  It's kinda weird.  I was expecting the opposite.  
Still, I put the little pads in the storage ones to make sure it was all 
making good thermal contact since it gets no air flow in there.  It runs 
plenty cool enough.

The M.2 stick in my rig, it runs real cool.  I put a massive cooler on 
that thing.  It has heat pipes and large fins.  I skipped the fan tho.  
I just didn't think it would generate near enough heat to need that.  I 
likely have the coolest running M.2 stick there is.  ROFL


NVME temps
Sensor 1:    +109.1°F  Controller
Sensor 2:     +96.5°F  Memory chips


Think that is cool enough??  LOL


>> I can get links if you want to see EXACTLY what I
>> have and which one may need something different than the others. One
>> says NVME, another says NAND and the other one says HMB.  Those are
>> the things that I see that is different.  I also have one in my puter
>> for the OS as well.
> No need for links, NVMe (Non Volatile Memory Express) specifies the
> onboard controller interface, allowing high bandwidth parallel access to
> the storage media via PCIe.
>
> NAND is the type of memory chips on the SSD.  I don't think NOR is used
> for SSDs(?), at least not for retail hardware applications.
>
> HMB (Host Memory Buffer) refers to the type of cache used by the SSD.
> Instead of onboard DRAM (expensive), or SLC cache, or (pseudo) SLC
> cache, some SSDs borrow a bit of your system RAM to store metadata.
> It's a way of assisting DRAM-less SSDs to behave like more expensive
> SSDs with onboard DRAM, albeit slower and with increased latency under
> high loads.
>

I wasn't sure if the info I posted was the ones that mattered, pretty 
sure the NAND was correct but not sure on the other two.

>> I took the M.2 sticks out of the safe, plugged them in for a few
>> minutes, mounted them and kinda clicked around and then unplugged them
>> and put them back in the safe.  I did similar with the regular USB
>> sticks as well.  I get different kinds of USB sticks but usually read
>> reviews and find someone that has tested the ones they buy and claim
>> they are good, plus high rated as well.  Some of those aren't cheap.
> Most smaller retail USB sticks do not have an onboard controller to
> perform wear levelling and garbage collection, so sync'ing and
> unmounting them after you finish writing on them won't have any adverse
> effect.  Some expensive USB drives have onboard controllers with the
> necessary algorithm for optimising data storage and longevity.  The
> difference in price between the two types of USB drives points to this,
> but you can always check the manufacturers specification.


The one that failed, it is about the size of a thumbnail.  That is one 
set that I got that was cheap.  I could lose what is on there and not be 
bad.  Most of the time, I have duplicate sticks with the same data anyway.

I'll try to plug the M.2 sticks and USB sticks in a couple times a 
year.  ;-)

Thanks.

Dale

:-)  :-)