While most people seem happy enough to store their family photos, videos and personal documents on a hard drive, few of us think about the realities of what happens when those storage devices come into contact with nature's harshest elements: namely, water and fire.
If the house gets damaged by a floor or a raging bushfire, there's often little we can do, except hope for the best. Computers don't usually stand a chance in these circumstances.
That's where ioSafe come in. Their particular brand of 'disaster sensitive' backup storage solutions are pitched at those who have first hand experiences of a natural calamity and its effects on home gadgetry.
We've taken our first look at the ioSafe Solo 1.5TB. Although we haven't (yet) thrown water on it or set it on fire, the 'Solo' looks bulky, yet neatly designed, with a metallic enclosure that appears, at first glance, that it is made to last.
The enclosure by no means light (15lbs), but that's to be expected, considering the unprecedented level of insulation gone into the engineering of the ioSafe enclosure to ensure its high fire-safe rating, rated up to furnace temperatures up to 1500 degrees Fahrenheit.
We're no fire experts, but considering the intense heat of a typical home fire and depending on the materials combusting, there's always a chance that the fire will get much hotter than this. In this case, the ioSafe isn't a disaster cure-all, but it is a step forward in affordable personal data protection at a reasonable price of $499.
Considering the basic cost of a 1.5TB 3.5" drive, which can be found for around $179 these days - you're essentially paying the difference for the benefit of the fan-cooled, and tough Solo enclosure.
For theft and security minded individuals, there's even a facility for cable locking and mounting the unit to the floor. IoSafe are so confident in their product, that they're also offering a free, no questions data removal service (valued up to $1,000) for drives that actually make it through a disaster.
The price appears right, and if the hardaware really stands up to the physical test, this product may prove to be a winner. For more details, visit the ioSafe website.
The ioSafe specs, at a glance:
- USB 2.0, 7200 RPM, up to 480Mb/s
- Avaliable in 500 GB, 1TB and 1.5TB capacities.
- Air-cooled.
- Multi-platform compatibility: Windows, Mac and Linux
- 3 year warranty
- Fireproof to 1500 degrees F, waterproof to 10ft in a flood, submerged for 3 days