First look review

Would your external hard drive survive a house fire? This one will.

You wouldn’t normally throw your external hard drive on the barbecue then drop it in a tub of water and expect it to keep working. But that’s what we did to the “disaster proof” ioSafe Solo external hard drive to see just how tough it really is.

How it works

Advertised as a type of “aircraft black box for your data”, the ioSafe Solo is designed to withstand the sort of real-world disaster that would reduce a normal hard drive to a useless lump of metal. It’s like an electronic safe for your irreplaceable information, such as financial files and digital family photos.

Manufacturer dSafe claims it can withstand temperatures of 843°C for half an hour and can be submerged in 3 metres of water for 3 days. The idea is that the ioSafe Solo could survive a flood, or a house fire and the fire hoses that inevitably follow. It also has a floor-mount tab so that you can bolt the hard drive to a concrete or wooden floor to reduce the risk of theft.

The ioSafe Solo weighs a hefty 6.8kg and is physically larger than a standard external hard drive (13 x 18 x 28cm). It’s available in capacities of 500GB to 2TB (2000GB) and can connect to any desktop or laptop computer using a USB 2.0 connection. The drive comes formatted with the Windows NTFS file system, but can be used with Linux as well and is easily reformatted for use with a Mac.

The exterior of the case has a power switch, USB 2.0 connection and AC power input – just like an ordinary hard drive. Inside the case, the hard drive is protected by heat-resistant ceramic blocks and a heavy-duty watertight bag. So, if the connections on the outside are damaged by water or fire, you can open the case and retrieve the hard drive inside.

The frying test

To see how well it lived up to its claims, we bought a 500GB model and cranked up the backyard barbecue ... with the ioSafe Solo as the main course.

After baking it on full heat with the oven-top closed for 15 minutes the drive casing was hot enough to fry an egg – and to prove it, we did just that.

We then picked it up by a wire attached to its floor-mount tab and dunked it in a tub of water where it stayed fully immersed until it cooled to a temperature that could be handled safely.

Back in the lab, we opened the case and retrieved the hard drive locked within. We then connected the drive to a laptop to see if our data was intact. And it worked!

The external casing is only good for one major disaster, but that’s enough if it protects your precious data.

Our view

A standard external hard drive can easily be stolen or damaged and, in a flood or fire, you’re likely to lose everything. Backing up to “the cloud” over the internet is relatively slow and it can be even slower to get your information back following a mishap.

For protected local storage, the ioSafe Solo seems hard to beat ... or burn ... or drown.

Specifications

ioSafe Solo External Hard Drive

Dimensions: 13 x 18 x 28cm
Weight: 6.8kg
Capacities/price: 500GB / $373, 1TB / $476, 1.5TB / $596, 2TB / $792

Note: Extended warranties including USD$1000 for data recovery are available.

The ioSafe Solo can be bought from dSafe at www.dsafe.co.nz.