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Real world tests
Real world tests
As with benchmarking SSDs it is pointless conducting an endless amount of benchmarks on a pen drive. Real users may conduct a few benchmarks when they first get their pen drive, but most users simply want a drive that performs well in the real world.
The benchmarks have so far shown us that this pen drive provides very good sequential throughput and small random read threads, but rather limited performance with small random write transfers. Now let’s see how this drive performs in the real world.
Real world single file copy test
The most common task people use a high capacity pen drive for is transferring bulky files from one place to another. So in this test, we will measure how long it takes to transfer a 1GB file to and from the pen drive.
We used a script to measure the timing, with the source file stored on a RAM disk to prevent the read source becoming a bottleneck and the computer being rebooted after the write test to clear the cache. These tests were repeated to cover the FAT32, exFAT and NTFS file systems, as well as the Private Zone.
The following are the results:
Reading and writing performance is pretty much the same whether we use the FAT32 or exFAT file system. NTFS performs a lot lower when it comes to writing, taking over twice the length to store this file. Unlike the synthetic benchmarks earlier, we can see that the Private Zone has a noticeable effect on read performance.
Real world small files copy test
Not everyone uses a USB pen drive for bulky files. In fact, some simply use it to back up their documents and photos, many of could range from a few Kilobytes to a few Megabytes per file. So in this test, we time how long it takes to copy 8,247 photos in a hierarchy of 245 folders totalling 1GB to and from the pen drive.
Like the previous test, these files are stored on a RAM disk as the source and we used a script to measure the timing. The computer was rebooted after each write test to clear the cache.
The following are the results:
Total time taken to write the file set
Total time taken to read the file set
When it comes to small files, the file system itself can have a significant on transfer performance, especially when it comes to writing the files. exFAT clearly leads when it comes to writing, taking 5 minutes less time than with the pen drive formatted in FAT32, while NTFS is slightly faster for reading. The impact of encryption is also noticeable, again taking the longest to read the file set.
Despite how well exFAT performed, this write time is still quite poor. In fact, if we were to fill the pen drive with files similar to this file set, it would take nearly 9 hours to complete! So for copying a large number of small files from one computer to another, we would recommend first storing them in a Zip archive and then place this Zip archive on the pen drive.
Real world MP3 files copy test
As most set top media players and many car stereos can play MP3 files from USB, a very common use for a USB pen drive is to carry MP3 files around. In fact, this drive should be large enough to store a very large collection of music.
Like the previous tests, these MP3 files are stored on a RAM disk as the source and we used a script to measure the timing. All MP3s were stored in the same folder. The computer was rebooted after each write test to clear the cache.
The following are the results:
Total time taken to write the MP3 file set
Total time taken to read the MP3 file set
As we can see here, the pen drive performed reasonably well writing the file set, with a throughput of roughly 1GB of MP3s per minute. We can also clearly see that NTFS seriously degrades write performance when it comes to writing MP3s, taking over 4 times the length to write the file set.
Real world file deletion test
One issue we noticed in the past when it comes to pen drives and even external hard drives is the amount of time it takes to delete a large folder from the drive, in some cases taking several minutes.
So for this test, we simply timed the duration it took to delete the hierarchy of 8,247 files and 245 folders from the pen drive. The computer was rebooted before we ran this test to clear the cache. The timing was measured by a script.
Regardless of the file system, deleting a large set of files is going to be a tedious process, in this case taking over 3 times longer than simply reading the file set. Interestingly, the NTFS file system came in the lead this time, with the exFAT file system just a little slower.
Summary
Like with Solid State Drives, synthetic testing alone tells little about how a pen drive will perform in the real world. For example, if we look at the synthetic results, it would appear that the Private Zone performs as well as no encryption and that NTFS performs almost as well as the exFAT file system. These Real World results tell a very different story: The Private Zone performed noticeably slower than without encryption regardless of the file system and exFAT was 2 to 4 times quicker writing than NTFS.
Overall, exFAT performed the best for this pen drive, giving read performance as good as FAT32 and the best write performance in all three write tests, so unless one needs to use FAT32 or NTFS for compatibility reasons, we recommend formatting this pen drive with the exFAT file system.
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