One of the biggest reasons why you may choose to have an external hard drive is so that you can make backup copies of all your critical data. This gives you peace of mind in case the hard drive in your primary computer happens to crash. How, then, can you get peace of mind if your home or office happen to catch on fire?
This is obviously not a scenario that anybody wants to face, but it is one for which we should probably prepare. One way to do that is with the ioSafe SoloPro external hard drive. This thing is about as tough as it gets!
Main Features and Specifications
I wouldn’t go so far as to say that the ioSafe SoloPro is disaster-proof, but it is rated to survive some wicked fire and water damage. According to the official product page, it is “the fastest and most versatile fireproof waterproof hard drive [ioSafe has] ever made.” Quite unlike most other hard drive enclosures, this offering will protect your data in temperatures up to 1550 degrees fahrenheit for half an hour, as well as up to 10 feet of water for 72 hours. That’s pretty tough.
The version being reviewed here features USB 3.0 connectivity and 1TB of capacity (single 3.5″ SATA disk 7200RPM) and sells for $249 US. If more storage is needed, you can pick up the 2TB version for $419 US. If the promise of safety and data recovery is all you are looking a slower eSATA/USB 2.0 interface version is available for $149 US.
If the pricing for the hardware sounds out of whack, you might be right if this was some ordinary hard drive enclosure. But considering the toughness of this enclosure and what it can do underwater and in a fire and it’s not that much to ask. There is also a very important component of the deal which is the Disaster Recovery Service (DRS) that is bundled with each drive, giving you piece of mind for 1 full year with an option to renew for $100 for up to 5 more years.
What’s Included in the Box?
Want to know what’s inside? Check out the video below…
The ioSafe SoloPro isn’t exactly fancy when it comes to functionality: it’s an external hard drive that you connect locally to your computer. Yes, it’s about as tough as it gets, but given its simple functionality, the box contents are pretty straightforward too.
The external hard drive is in quite the hefty enclosure, of course, so that it can survive an burning inferno. It’s definitely bigger than most hard drive enclosures, but it’s only a little bigger than what you’d expect from a standard NAS. It is heavy, though, weighing about the same as a good-sized turkey.
Beyond the drive (and enclosure) itself, you get a USB 3.0 cable, power brick and cable, and a very small user manual. You can optionally sign up for the data recovery service from ioSafe and you’ll need to do this if you want to take advantage of the company’s guarantee.
Devising the Torture Test
To see just how tough this external hard drive really is, we had to devise a torture test. Naturally, I wasn’t about to light my house on fire to see if the ioSafe survived, so we had to think of a way to simulate a fire. And so, the Futurelooks team decided that we could stick this thing in the oven.
For the purposes of testing, I benchmarked the drive before, loaded it with some video files, and shoved it in the oven for half an hour at 450 degrees Fahrenheit. The metal enclosure certainly gets quite hot, so we melted some margarine on it to prove that it is, indeed, very hot. I’m curious to see how a GETAC notebook or tablet would survive such torture, so expect to see something like that in the near future too.
Results of the Torture Test
So, how did it do? Check out the video to find out!
I was mildly concerned, not necessarily for the ioSafe SoloPro, but more for the safety of my home. The first fifteen minutes seemed to be going quite well, but then I started to smell something burning or melting. As I said in the video, it’s almost the same kind of smell that you get when you turn on a hairdryer, likely because it’s burning through some dust or something in the coils. And then, I think I discovered what was causing the smell.
The rubberized feet in the base of the ioSafe had begun to melt. Interestingly, none of the labels look like they got scorched in any way, but the metal surface was easily hot enough to make some fresh margarine bubble on contact. After letting the product cool off overnight, I plugged it back into my computer and, sure enough, the pre-loaded video files still worked just fine. Everything loaded up as if it had not been tortured at all.
We may be returning to make a grill cheese sandwhich or at least fry an egg to make sure you keep an eye on our YouTube Channel for more fun.
Torture Test Benchmark Scores
But what if we put some actual numbers to this test? For that, we turned to CrystalDiskMark 3.0. The test rig used here comes powered by an AMD Phenom II X4 905E 2.5GHz, MSI 890GZN-G65 mATX motherboard, 4GB of DDR3 1866MHz RAM, Gigabyte HD 5770 SOC 1GB DDR5 GPU, and Windows 7 Professional 64-bit. For the sake of comparison, I decided to include the FreeAgent GoFlex USB 3.0 drive in this benchmark as well.
The performance level of the ioSafe before (pre) and after (post) the torture test is basically comparable. In fact, the resulting benchmark numbers actually improved after being cooked in the oven. The sequential read and write speeds (with 1000MB of data and 1024KB blocks) were recorded at 110.9MB/s and 85.71MB/s, respectively. Using the same test after the torture test resulted in speeds of 123.2MB/s and 89.86MB/s, respectively. It’s almost as if cooking it made it faster.
The Real Value of ioSafe
It’s easy enough to focus on the hardware and its relative performance, but that’s not the real “product” being offered by ioSafe. It’s just the tangible thing that’s serves as a talking point. The real product is the Disaster Recovery Service (DRS).
You get one year of DRS when you buy the SoloPro and then you can renew (for three or 5 years) after that. As long as you keep the service active, your data is safe and will be recovered by ioSafe should something happen to the drive. Regular data recovery services from competitors can cost $2500; with ioSafe, this cost is spread across all the customers, not unlike insurance, so there’s no hesitation on your part should something happen to your external drive. 5 year renewals start at around $100 US which gives you bumper to bumper coverage after the 1st year.
Be advised though that you have to buy the renewal before the 1 year is up. This prevents people from cooking it in an oven after the warranty is up and then claiming for out of warranty issues.
Closing Remarks
With a base price of $249 for the one-terabyte model with USB 3.0, the ioSafe SoloPro fireproof and waterproof external hard drive is certainly not the cheapest option on the block in terms of hardware. You can get a similarly sized and spec’d external hard drive for a fraction of the price. But that’s not the point of the ioSafe offer. Yes, it’s fast and capacious, but it’ll also be able to keep your data safe in case your home office goes burning into the ground. With the data recovery service, you’re even covered for up to $2,500 in case ioSafe can’t get your data back after a disaster. That’s some real peace of mind.
The ioSafe SoloPro certainly isn’t for everyone, but for the people who need this kind of protection, it really doesn’t get much tougher… unless you get the shockproof SSD model which will survive multiple shotgun blasts and being dragged behind a car. Do stay tuned to our YouTube Channel for that special video!
Pros
- Easily survived the oven torture test
- Impressive data speeds over USB 3.0
- Pre-drilled holes for mounting and lock-chains
- Very solid construction
Cons
- More expensive than non-fireproof alternatives
- Heavier and larger than non-fireproof alternatives
- Connectivity options are limited
- No built-in network options
Overall Rating: 8.5 / 10.0
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ioSafe Solo Pro Fireproof External Hard Drive Picture Gallery
