ioSafe Solo hard drive places a 2TB bet on all kinds of disasters
By Richard Lai 
posted Nov 13th 2009 9:08PM
posted Nov 13th 2009 9:08PM
It's Friday the 13th, and ioSafe couldn't have chosen a better time to update their Solo fireproof and waterproof hard drive line with a 2TB model. Sure, it'll cost you $399 for a USB 2.0 connection instead of eSATA, FireWire 800 or USB 3.0, but you'll never know when your yacht sinks or burns down, sending that precious Kenny G collection to oblivion. Don't go thinking you can just get the $149 500GB model and upgrade it yourself either -- you'll have to destroy the waterproof seal to get to the hard drive, as demonstrated before. Yeah, life's tough.
lmao jasonproof
Took me a minute to find it.. Haha
This is what struck me as funny...
Update: Jason commented to let us know they also use Seagate drives.
http://www.engadget.com/2009/01/13/iosafe-announces-solo-the-external-submersable-fire-proof-hdd/
Jasonproof ;)
That's a pretty cool idea. I have plenty of high-end customers who'd pay for that kind of product just to be ULTRA safe with their files.
15 pounds, pass!
what do you care if it weighs a ton, it's not a mobile hard drive. Are you scared your Mum is going to get mad at you if it breaks your IKEA shelf? ;)
"you'll never know when your yacht sinks or burns down"
"Waterproof to 10 feet of fresh water or salt water"
By the way, how will I never know if my yacht disappears? Won't I know next time I try to use it...maybe you should have written "You never know when your yacht WILL sink or burn down"
I was referring to the usage of unprotected hard drives, of course.
i still wouldnt buy one of these.. maybe we should all just put our HDD's inside a waterproof Hefty bag.
Yeah I hear they protect against fire really well. For those who don't realize, the waterproof part becomes important when the Fire Department hoses down your house.
I think this is a great argument for storing files online. I only have about 50 megabytes or so of actually crucial computer files. Documents, of course. I have another couple gigs of photos and things like that. It's not too hard to get that amount of data onto two online storage services, or even an email account.
I just got done ordering the iomega ix2-200 2TB NAS...
and we care because?
good for you?
cool. poster above is a ass-hole
iPhone is SOOOOOOOO mUch bettar!!!!
lol
the iPhone is waterproof/fireproof? AND holds more than 32gb !?!?!? where can i buy it?
lmao why did your comment get downranked, i thought the irony was hillarious.
I think, "My iPhone is sooo much better," is a good valid comment for any posts onward. LOL!!!!
If it's water proof, and fireproof, wouldn't the hard drive have a tendency of getting extra hot? overheating at all?
That is why these are both spendy and cool. Years ago people would try to rig ways to get a drive to run in a fireproof safe, but obviously there are cooling and ventilation issues.
Don't worry, there is a fan: http://www.engadget.com/2009/08/08/iosafe-solo-500gb-rugged-external-hdd-reviewed-tortured-and-dro/
ventilation?
your hard drives doing a lot of breathing?
Hard drives get hot too, Brian: http://www.engadget.com/2008/04/30/western-digital-velociraptor-drive-gets-reviewed/
I just got the Jason jokes.
Friday 13th lol
I thought it was Jason Bourne
Took me all day, but me too.
me too. now i feel like a ass for not noticing all the pictures.
The title makes me imagine the Casino Royale scene with hard/solid state drives instead of poker chips.
I loled.
is it pulga proof also?
I don't know how drop/crush resistant ioSafe or Sentry line are. Indeed they both have impressive fire-resistance and water proof rating. But what if the roof or floor or wall collapses onto the unit? This is a real scenario in fires where the brigade's response time is >5-8 minutes.
Even in tornado alley USA a data safe being knocked around is a possibility to guard against.
Hmmm. I've always wondered if it would be doable to buy something like this
http://www.amazon.com/SentrySafe-1160-FIRE-SAFE-Chest-Cubic/dp/B000SHRKJO
And drill a hole small enough for a USB cable, then another for power. Cut off the USB connector, run it through, ditto with the power connector. Splice them both back together, caulk the holes using fire retardant caulk so there is no ventilation, then just throw an external hard drive in it and put it behind the computer desk. Would the holes be enough to really impact the fire resistant nature of the case?
Having been the guy to have to go in and recover Hard Drives from the debris of a few fires, I can say I would never trust that approach. We are talking hot enough that the steel computer cases were droopy, and the aluminum heat sinks were indiscernible globs. Not only are most cables not fireproof they can actually work like a wick by spreading a fire from one location to another. You can buy special fireproof cables, but good luck finding a USB cable that is. Further, once you make that hole, it is no longer going to be waterproof or fireproof once it spends any substantial time in a fire. A little caulk ain't gonna cut it.
@ Random Guy
Thats what she said
The font used for Solo it's terrible! Remind me a refrigerator of the 60s
The folks at IO gave one of the best Demos I've ever seen at CES last year. They took us to a private house in Vegas. First they put data onto a Hard drive and then put their enclosure on it. Dropped it into the pool several times, took a hammer to it, and then put it into a FireBox and set it on fire at over 900 degrees for 25 minutes. When they were done they dropped it back into the pool where this huge puff of steam came up - very cool! Got the tongs out and unscrewed it, got the Hard Drive out, plugged it back into the computer and the hard drive was in "perfect" condition. It's one thing for people to talk about their 100% safe Hard Drives, another thing for a company to actually show us. It was pretty darn amazing.
That is impressive.
Dammit to hell! Why oh why do you have to show the price Engadget? -- it reminds me of how much I paid for a whimpy, puny, 500 GB, non-Jasonproof drive last year.
I have to wonder. Since this would be constantly on, how much heat is going to be transfered from the fire to the HDD? Since this has a cooling fan, that means there's an open "heat pipe" from the outside air to the drive. Put one of these units RUNNING in a room, set it on fire, get it to 900 degree, watch that fan fail, then heat starts transfering BACKWARDS to the drive till it's so hot it siezes up.
Lets see them do a LIVE test, not a powered down test. Otherwise, it's just a gimmick.
Here you go: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s-ZojKNjhD4
Wait a sec, if there is an exhaust fan how can it be waterproof and fireproof? If air can get out, surely water can get in?
Maybe the drive is in a sealed chamber with a heatsink built into it and use the fan to cool that?
Quoting from http://www.testfreaks.com/blog/review/iosafe-solo-500gb-rugged-usb-external-hard-drive/
"Also one thing to note is that, I mentioned in the video about missing the tubes that are supposed to melt during a fire and block the channels, I spoke with ioSafe about this and that is the way it’s supposed to be as it’s a new design.
Here’s a quote from the CEO about it actually: "They’re not missing. We’ve recently tuned the FloSafe vent openings for fire vs. Normal operation. During a fire, the vent channels are sized so the steaming action from the water is always a constant outward flow! The outside heat in a fire does not penetrate yet the vent channels are just the right for adequate cooling during normal operation.""
So they're too small for heat to get through in the rated time it's meant to survive in a fire, can survive being immersed then set on fire because it steams up outwards and I guess it survives being immersed just by being internally sealed (so water can't get in as there's already air there... you'd have to manually rotate the drive several times in specific directions to get air into the HDD chamber since water is heaver than air and the channels go multiple directions.
Great for Home/Office back up
Plus backing up client files
There is a BETTER, BIGGER and CHEAPER solution:
1. Buy yourself an external HDD drive (I would go for a dual-bay version, up to 2/4 Gb total), which is $20-60, depending on a config (it may include RAID).
2. Buy HDDs - price depends on your preferences.
3. Get yourself a SentrySafe Fire-Safe Waterproof File - $40 at Walmart, Office Depot, etc.
It gets you a bigger space for papers, docs, valuable, etc. Not just an HDD. And It hold water and dire much longer.
And, yes, it is cheaper.
You forgot step 4, 5, and 6
4. Remember to make regular backups
5. Remember to put your drive in the fire safe while backups aren't running.
6. Try not to have a fire when the backup is running
This supposed to be more of a set it and forget it scenario, where you can just leave it plugged in and on, and not worry about stashing it in a firesafe for protection. Honestly I think it would be cooler if it was a decent speed NAS. Then you could have it in a completely different room from your PC.
Has anyone thought up of a scenario where this heavy-ass hard drive sinks your yacht. After all, I wouldn't want this monster hard drive making a hole in my hypothetical yacht.