Disaster-proof External Hard Drive – ioSafe Solo
2010-04-29 Initial Post
I've never had the need for something like this, so didn't even know that a product like this existed for consumers. The specs and reviews look decent. The only big issue I see from the specs is that the interface is USB 2.0, which is SLOW. It'd take several hours (probably most of a day) to back up 1 TB over USB 2.0. I haven't checked to see if there are similar products that have a faster interface.
I have my own low-cost technique for protecting the external hard drive that I use to backup to. What I do is backup once a week and then store the drive in the car trunk. I figure that if my house caught on fire or flooded, it wouldn't affect my car since I don't park in the garage. I encrypt the drive with TrueCrypt, so I'm not concerned about the data being accessed should someone steal my car and/or the drive. The drive that I use has an eSata 3.0 Gb interface, which is much faster than USB 2.0.
If you use my technique, make sure that when you bring the drive back in, to let it settle for at least an hour. This is important in the winter because it's not good for the drive to fire up when it's internal components are frozen. You need to let the drive warm up to room temperature in that case. I don't believe that there's any issue in the summer since the drives can handle heat because they do get hot during normal operation.
