ioSafe Solo – Virtual Fortress

Safety Storage Vault

This March, the Philippines is officially observing Fire Prevention Month. But in spite of this, fire-related incidents are still prevalent in different parts of the country. A fire incident brings significant damage to property, especially in the case of business establishments. In the digital age, business property does not only consist of physical equipment, but also, more importantly, digital information. In light of this, ioSafe, through its exclusive local distributor Solid Business Machines Center, Inc., is introducing the ioSafe Solo external desktop hard drive as a proactive storage solution.

Established in 2005, ioSafe is a California-based company that specializes in fire- and water-proof external hard drives, among which is the Solo. On paper, the Solo can withstand temperatures of up to 843°C for up to 30 minutes and survive submersion in water down to ten feet for up to three days. This capability is achieved by means of surrounding the hard drive within the Solo with physical layers of protection. The external layer is a thick metal enclosure. Next to it is a ceramic block dubbed DataCast which releases water vapor once it senses heat of at least 71°C. The innermost layer is an aluminium foil bag that envelopes the hard drive. Because of these defences, the Solo is much heavier than a typical external hard drive, weighing almost seven kilograms.

Besides the protective layers, the Solo is a conventional external desktop hard drive in its entirety. Our test unit came with a 500GB Seagate internal HDD which is connected to a USB 2.0 controller. On the outside, the Solo is equipped with a Type B USB 2.0 connector and is powered via a DC in port. Heat within the Solo is dissipated with the help of a cooling fan. In terms of data transfer rate, the Solo is just as fast as any USB 2.0 external hard drive, having an average read speed of 26.7MBps and a write speed of 22.3MBps.

Watch the video above showing the actual testing of the ioSafe Solo 500GB external desktop hard drive!

However, the true test for the Solo is by means of subjecting it to physical abuses like burning and dipping it in water. Before doing these, we first stored files on the external hard drive. The Solo was subjected to fire inside a metal can in thirty minutes and during the process, the plastic fan, USB, and DC in ports melted away. Subsequently, we put off the fire by pouring water on the Solo until it was submerged. After the ordeal, we opened the enclosure of the Solo which showed that the hard drive within was unharmed, although it felt a bit warm. We hooked up the hard drive to a computer and, gladly, we were able to access and open the files without a problem, proving that the Solo was able to live up to ioSafe’s claims.

The ioSafe Solo is available in three storage capacities: 500GB (PhP 16,300), 1TB (PhP 25,000), and 2TB (PhP 43,600). ioSafe also bundles the Solo with a US$ 1000-worth recovery service. Without a doubt, the Solo is much more expensive than a regular external hard drive. However, weighing its retail price against the peace of mind that it may bring to a business owner, we can say that the Solo is a worthy investment.

For more information about the features and specifications of the ioSafe Solo, visit solidmac.com.ph.