Would this work? USB Flash Drives as external SSD?

[MysticColby]

I got to thinking the other day:
SSDs are basically big flash drives (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USB_flash_drive)
Though I've never done it myself, I've gleaned that it's possible to partition/raid multiple HDs together to act as 1 HD
Might it be possible to do the same to lots of Flash Drives serially linked with USB hubs? 1 USB port -> 1 hub (7 USB ports) -> 7 hubs (49 USB ports) -> 49 hubs (343 USB ports)

USB hubs /can/ be really cheap (given patience, they could probably be acquired for $3 per 7-port hub)
If you go to conventions and stuff like that, they literally give away flash drives with the company's info on them. not the largest around, but I've seen 512MB (maybe larger now? that was several years ago)
to get 343 ports, you would need 57 hubs ($171)
343 free 512MB flash drives
cardboard box 18x18x18" (if each hub is 7x2x1", then 57 would take up 7x19x6") This would be big, but not ungodly so.
This would give us 171.5 GB. (343 GB if each drive is 1GB)
I'm not sure of the power requirements of these drives - might have to get hubs with own power supplies.

anyways - is this possible? would it work how I think?
USB 2.0 offers faster data transfer than SSD, but I don't know the speeds of flash drives.

 

[miles01110]

USB 2.0 offers faster data transfer than SSD, but I don't know the speeds of flash drives.

USB 2.0 is a hardware specification, while an SSD is a piece of hardware. I don't see how you can make the claim that "USB 2.0 is faster than SSD", because they are not the same kind of thing. It's like saying "60 miles per hour is faster than car."

 

[waw74]

yes, and it's been done


http://www.google.com/search?q=thumb+drive+raid

 

[AlphaDogg]

I am sure it is possible, however I do not believe it to be a good idea. It will be pretty expensive, and take up a lot of space. Think about it. For a decent (powered) USB hub, it would be around $25 (not $3). For a decent 1GB flash drive, it would be about $10. There are your costs. That would be more money than its worth.