ioSafe Announces 'Full Metal Jacket' Rugged HDDs
ioSafe usually uses CES to launch the next model in its line of super-tough external storage solutions and this year is no different.
ioSafe yesterday officially unveiled the Rugged Portable, a 'Full Metal Jacket' line of aluminum-cased HDDs and SSDs. The HDD version comes in 250GB and 1TB flavours while the SSD models (also available in titanium) are available in capacities of 256GB and 512GB. All models support USB 3.0 and are backwards compatible with USB 2.0. A FireWire version is coming in March.
Of course, capacities and availability are important, but when we see ‘rugged’ we want to know how much torture these externals can withstand. According to ioSafe, the aluminum enclosure is crush-resistant to 2,500 lbs. and the titanium alloy enclosure (SSD only) to 5,000 lbs. The SSD models can take drops of up to 20’ while the HDDs can deal with drops measuring up to 10’ (both on solid concrete). If you’re going to be using your external around water, you can rest easy knowing that these babies can stand up to three days in fresh or saltwater at depths of 10’ (HDD) and 20’ (SSD). If chemicals are more your style, then you're safe from diesel fuel, oils, hydraulic fluids as well as aircraft fuels to a 12" depth for one hour. ioSafe’s EnviroSafe and AltiSafe technology also ensures protection from exposure to UV, blowing sand and dust, rain, salt fog, icing, or freezing rain and altitudes of up to 15,000 ft. (aluminum version) and 30,000 feet (SSD and titanium versions).
If all of that still doesn’t protect your data, the Rugged Portable is backed by ioSafe's Data Recovery Service. Should a drive break for absolutely any reason while under warranty, ioSafe will repair or replace the drive and, if necessary, cover up to $5,000 of the cost of third-party forensic recovery services. All Rugged Portable versions include 12 months warranty and Data Recovery Service, which users can choose to extend to either 36 or 60 months.
Prices start at $149.99 for the 250 GB aluminum HDD version and the HDDs will be available for pre-order from January 04, 2011 via the company’s website. ioSafe usually does some pretty awesome tests to demonstrate just how rugged its products are (picture above is from the '09 demo) and we’re scheduled to take part in one of those demos on Friday morning, so we’ll be sure to update later in the week with lots of pictures and video. Stay tuned!
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Jane McEntegart is a writer, editor, and marketing communications professional with 17 years of experience in the technology industry. She has written about a wide range of technology topics, including smartphones, tablets, and game consoles. Her articles have been published in Tom's Guide, Tom's Hardware, MobileSyrup, and Edge Up.
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koga73 damn impressive... but can it be dropped 10' while running and keep the data intact with no glitches to the system?!Reply -
drakefyre First thing I thought when I saw the title was bullets. After reading the article, I thought this is cool, and the hard drive I need for traveling. Pretty sweet. They've got to have some form of impact reduction for the HDD though.Reply -
JasonAkkerman koga73damn impressive... but can it be dropped 10' while running and keep the data intact with no glitches to the system?!Reply
Seriously. The enclosure is impressive, but the weakest link is still the spinning platters with the head sitting on them (HDD only of course).
In my opinion the words HDD and RUGGED shouldn't be used in the same sentence. -
ProDigit10 One question though:Reply
If because of a fire, the USB or firewire shortcircuits, is there a chance for the drive to get damaged electrically (eg a +5V rail touching a grounded rail?) -
toughbook My Toughbook with the stock HDD can handle 10' drops, while running of course. That's a Hitachi drive. It's all in how well the enclosure is made. The HDD caddy is 1" thick made of steel with foam and gel suspending the HDD. I run SSD's in them now, so if my drive fails it's not going to be from shock and awe!Reply
What's the prices on the SSD models?