*notcot in tech , 02:08

ioSafe Solo ~ flaming HDs at CES- 01.08.09

iosafe0.jpg Here’s what i love about vegas ~ you just never know what or where you’ll end up ~ tonight led us on an adventure into the vegas off-strip suburbs where we ended up tossing the latest ioSafe Solo external hard drive into the color changing rock fountain pool… pulled it out by a cord… then set it on fire! Only to cool it (with clouds of steam) with a hose… and take it all apart to show off the pristine hard drive contained with in… and of course we also cooked a standard hard drive as well, which didn’t fare quite as nicely…

Beyond the obvious fascination and amusement from the demo itself ~ it all lent it self perfectly for some fun photographing and video too! Luckily dan came with ~ so we have full video of all the excitement for you to see on the next page, and i’ve summarized the whole scene in a gallery of pics as usual! Fire in the dark is SO fun with the my new 5D ~ and as for the ioSafe Solo external hard drive, i think i’m sold. In this line of “work” i can’t imagine losing all my files… lifetime of photos… design work… the websites!… you name it! Granted its one of those problems you hope you never have to worry about, but if there *were* to be a flood or fire, i’d certainly feel better knowing my data would most likely survive it! While ioSafe is primarily known for their enterprise level products (massive, hefty “disaster proof hardware”) ~ this is their first introduction into the consumer space, and the pricing is impressive ~ the 500GB ioSafe Solo external hard drive is only $149, and the 1TB is $199 and 1.5TB is $299!

Go see the pics and videos as well as more details on how they work on the next page! (The first video shows the destruction of it… the second one shows you how to get the hard drive out of it after!)


FYI ~ we got some pretty good footage of the demos, and it’s kind of amusing to hear the details right from the ioSafe mouths… so these are quite a few minutes each, but feel free to jump around ~ we left them pretty in tact to be thorough! (although i’m debating making hyperspeed fastforwarded versions too… but so so need to sleep, its nearly 5am!)

Part 1 of the videos shows you the whole demo ~ from tossing it into the pool, to hosing it off to cool it after setting it on fire (up to nearly 1500 degrees)…

Part 2 shows you retrieving the hard drive from the burnt/flooded casing… looks good as new! (and you’re not *supposed* to do this yourself, they’ll help recover your data for you)

So we drive up to a pretty non-descript suburban house in a culdesac ~ really you’d expect a soccer mom, some kids, and a dog to greet you at the door…
iosafe1.jpg

And just above the door we see the ioSafe DEMO-LITION sign…
iosafe2.jpg

To give you a feel, the backyard had quite the set up ~ pool and hot tub with statues and rocky fountains… and ever color changing lights in both (that weren’t synced to each other of course!)
iosafe3.jpg

Inside, they were set up with a projector and laptop ready to show off how it works…
iosafe4.jpg

I want it. Isn’t your worst nightmare as a designer/developer/computer-user losing ALL your data in an emergency? Well… on one hand, you can just leave this and let it flood or burn and grab it later… on the other hand, you can store it in the shower or oven and still use them and your data should still survive it? But really, with price points starting at $149 for the 500GB model (and sizes up to 1.5TB!) ~ its the kind of affordable your design studio can’t bear to do without!
iosafe5.jpg

So here are what the guts look like ~ including a look at the special FloSafe vent/tubing that upon heating automatically shuts off airflow by collapsing in on itself…
iosafe6.jpg

Here’s the breakdown of how the layers actually work…
works1.jpg

So they take pictures of us all ~ upload them onto a new ioSafe Solo drive ~ and then…

…the good stuff!!! First he THROWS the hard drive into the pool (and pulls it back up on the string after a few minutes)… then into the box it goes, with a regular unprotected hard drive in a baking pan above it and sets it all on fire! They keep pouring on the gas and checking temperatures till it gets hotter than most house fires ever will… i’d be kidding if i didn’t say it was far too mesmerizing and fun, wish we could do it again! After turning off the gas they pull it out, put it on the ground, and hose it off… there were clouds of steam coming up for a while ~ the pics look like blurry messes for that phase!
iosafe7.jpg

iosafe18.jpg

Next came the recovery phase (*insert “don’t try this at home” statement here*)… unscrewing the case… pulling it apart… popping it open… cutting the wires to free the metallic HydroSafe water barrier… and opening it up to expose a warm, good as new hard drive… cool it off with the desk fan… pop it in and connect to the laptop… and there we are in pics again! Impressive. Really…
iosafe8.jpg

…. especially when you see it compared to the bare drive!!! And honestly i doubt your usual external hard drives would do much better, probably far more toxic melting/burning plastic fumes!
iosafe9.jpg

SO! That’s the gist of it ~ here are a few more shots that amused me…

Firstly, those FloSafe vents are brilliantly simple ~ here is the one from the one we burned…
iosafe10.jpg

Adorable that they have ioSafe branded oven mitts
iosafe11.jpg

Close up of the burnt up fan and cabling…
iosafe12.jpg

In the backyard on the other side of the wall lies the carcasses of past demo ioSafe Solos…
iosafe13.jpg

Love how dramatic he looks there with the flames manning the fire…
iosafe14.jpg

Check out those pool/hot tub colors!
iosafe15.jpg

And if those pictures and videos don’t convince you you need one… well seeing this opened up crispified hard drive without protection certainly got to me…
iosafe16.jpg

…. LOOK AT THAT THING! sheesh ~ also, to destroy data, this looks like a fun way to do it? But to protect my data ~ a 1TB ioSafe Solo sounds like the way to go…
iosafe17.jpg

For all those details ~ the press release says it best:

ioSafe Unveils the ioSafe Solo — The First Affordable 1.5TB External Hard Drive That Protects Data From Fires and Floods

Delivers Unprecedented Protection for Precious or Critical Data Starting at $149

AUBURN, Calif., January 8, 2009 — ioSafe Inc., the technology leader in disaster-proof hardware, today has introduced the ioSafe Solo, the first affordable 1.5TB external hard drive with integrated ioSafe disaster protection technologies.

ioSafe has extended its technology, previously used for enterprise NAS systems and internal drive technology, to the external hard drive market in the new ioSafe Solo product line. The ioSafe Solo packages a single 3.5 inch SATA hard disk drive up to 1.5TB capacity in a fireproof and flood-proof enclosure. The ioSafe Solo protects precious data from loss in fire temperatures up to 1,550 degrees Farenheit and flood protection down to a 10 foot depth for 3 days. The ioSafe Solo is available in capacities of 500GB, 1TB and 1.5TB and connects to PCs, Macs or Linux computers with a USB 2.0 interface. The MSRP for 500GB is listed at $149, and comes with ioSafe’s Disaster Recovery Service. The Disaster Recovery Service provides up to $1,000 dollars of third-party forensic drive recovery service should the ioSafe Solo be damaged and the company is unable to directly recover the information.

“For years ioSafe has provided the industry’s leading disaster proof hardware. The ioSafe Solo at 1.5TB, offers tremendous disaster protection and represents fantastic value as a plug-and-play USB external hard drive,” said Robb Moore, CEO of ioSafe. “Using our patented technology and manufacturing processes, we have created the first affordable disaster proof external hard drive solution for the massive amounts of irreplaceable data created in homes and businesses everywhere”.

“For less than 20 cents per gigabyte, no other solution I can think of offers so much disaster protection, speed and capacity for so little money,” said George Crump, founder of Storage Switzerland, an analyst firm focused on the storage and virtualization markets. “ioSafe has developed a very compelling product for every person or business using external hard drives. The majority of data stored today is at risk of loss from fires or floods. Anybody with unprotected precious digital data should buy one of these now - before the fire or flood - not after.”

ioSafe Solo product details
The ioSafe Solo external disk drive is engineered to protect data from fire (up to 1,550 degrees Farenheit for one-half hour per ASTM E119) and flood (full immersion in fresh or salt water at depths up to 10 feet for 3 days). These capabilities are made possible ioSafe’s technology which can be used for both internally developed products and available to third-party manufactures for licensing. The technology protects disk drive data against damage from fire, floods and other disasters - while at the same time uniquely resolving heat dissipation issues found in all computer systems.

The ioSafe technology includes:
• ioSafe’s patented FloSafe cooling vent technology provides air-flow cooling to dissipate heat during normal operation. FloSafe technology also has the ability to detect destructive heat levels and automatically close the vents to protect data from extreme heat.
• Data on ioSafe protected products also is protected from extreme heat by ioSafe’s proprietary DataCast endothermic insulation technology.
• The patented HydroSafe technology is designed to protect data loss from fresh or salt-water damage, including full immersion. Simultaneously, HydroSafe technology allows the heat dissipation required by all computer hardware during normal operation.

Availability and price
The Solo is available today and can be purchased online at www.iosafe.com and soon purchased through retail channels. The ioSafe Solo capacities and pricing are as follows: 500GB for $149, 1TB for $199 and 1.5TB for $299. All units come with a power cord, USB cable and users guide.

About ioSafe
Like an aircraft black box for data, ioSafe provides innovative disaster-proof hardware technology and disaster recovery services as a cost-effective way for corporations and consumers alike to protect their irreplaceable data. Recognized in 2008 by Byte and Switch editors as one of the Top 10 Storage Startups to Watch, ioSafe delivers disaster-proof hardware plus services that add physical security, natural disaster protection and regulatory compliance features to standard hard drive-based systems.

ioSafe is a privately held company with headquarters in Auburn, Calif. For more information, please visit ioSafe.

Tags: - - - -

8 Notes

The ioSafe Solo looks great! When you compare hard drive brands, this would be well worth the money. It’s not much more expensive than a standard external hard drive…add fireproof and waterproof and I am sold.

Obviously there is a chance of drive failure, but it does come with a “no questions asked” data recovery service. After doing some research, this is the only hard drive manufacturer that offer this. You’ve gotta believe in the product to do something like that.

All that aside, I like the ioSafe 3.5” internal drives best, because I can put them in a RAID 1.

Great photos and story!

----- Jason Avail 12.01.09 08:40

A RAID version of this would be great. The comment about an internal drive failure is right on the money, but this looks like a great product!

I don’t think a flash drive is the solution, at least not with the storage size limitations.

I bet this was a fun presentation to watch in person!

Vi Wickam
President
On-Site Computer Solutions
http://www.424help.com

----- Vi Wickam 10.01.09 09:29

Hahaha, will it blend, that’s a good one. I think that’s a great product, though, and I’ll probably get one soon!

----- Magicjacob64 08.01.09 16:56

Okay, that’s creepy. I’ve been wondering this week if I could find a reliable, regular safe that’s rated to protect hard drives so I can backup locally & still know they’d survive a house fire. Sounds like I’m a shill, I know. These are pretty cool though, great pics & coverage!

----- The Slapster 08.01.09 16:16

but will it blend?

----- Jonathan Murphy 08.01.09 13:03

Wow, that thing is insane. I really want one now. Thanks for posting these pics.

----- Adam 08.01.09 12:13

Small flaw that the drive inside could be a dud no matter how well its is protected. Hdd’s are built with extremelty low mechanical tolerances a magnetic platter with centrepedal force being used to keep nanometres of space between the reader head and the platter is just asking for trouble. Should be 2.5” flash drive :)

----- saltynay 08.01.09 08:15

Heh, an awesome video. And and awesome product for those who depend on their data :) .. luckily i don’t besides i perform regular backups of my projects ^^

----- iDjole 08.01.09 05:16


Copyright NOTCOT INC 2005-2019 - Privacy Policy - Work In Progress! Please be nice!