Cracking open the ioSafe Rugged Portable hard drive: Box

ntThe ioSafe Rugged Portable Hard Drive consists of a billet-machined enclosure (aluminum or titanium) and a hard drive (mechanical or SSD).

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ntMechanical drives come in 250GB, 500GB, 750GB and 1TB versions and cost between $149.99 and $399.99 (US). SSD drives come in 120GB, 256GB, and 500GB versions and cost between $499 and $1,999 (US).

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ntOur 750GB, mechanical drive (with aluminum enclosure) test unit retails for $299.99 (excluding tax and shipping).
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ntAlong with the actual device, each drive comes with a 1-year warranty and data recovery service. If your drive “breaks for any reason” ioSafe will fix or replace it. And if the data needs to be recovered, ioSafe will do so “one time, for any reason”.
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ntIf ioSafe’s in-house techs can’t recover the data, the company will pay a forensic data recovery firm to do so–up to $2,500 for the ioSafe Rugged Portable and up to $5,000 for the ioSafe Rugged Portable SSD.
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ntFor an additional cost, you can extend the warranty (at the time of original purchase) to either three or five years.
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ntPhoto by: Bill Detwiler / TechRepublic
ntCaption by: Bill Detwiler

Cracking open the ioSafe Rugged Portable hard drive: Box contents

ntInside the ioSafe Rugged Portable’s box, you’ll find the enclosure and drive, USB cable, USB Y-cable (USB 3.0 models – to provide extra power if necessary from low-power USB 2.0 ports), and product documentation.
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ntPhoto by: Bill Detwiler / TechRepublic
ntCaption by: Bill Detwiler

Cracking open the ioSafe Rugged Portable hard drive: Front

ntThe aluminum ioSafe Rugged Portable hard drive enclosure (shown in this photo) weighs 1 pound. The titanium enclosure weighs 1.5 pounds. Both boxes measure 3.9″ (W) x 5.7″ (L) x 1.0″ (H).
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ntPhoto by: Bill Detwiler / TechRepublic
ntCaption by: Bill Detwiler

Cracking open the ioSafe Rugged Portable hard drive: Registration warning sticker

ntTo use the data recovery service that comes with the ioSafe Rugged Portable hard drive, you must activate the product.

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ntPhoto by: Bill Detwiler / TechRepublic
ntCaption by: Bill Detwiler

Cracking open the ioSafe Rugged Portable hard drive: Bottom

ntPhoto by: Bill Detwiler / TechRepublic
ntCaption by: Bill Detwiler

Cracking open the ioSafe Rugged Portable hard drive: USB port, Kensington security slot, and activity light

ntAlong the lower edge of the ioSafe Rugged Portable hard drive are a Kensington security slot, USB port, and disk activity light. The drive is available in USB 3.0 and USB 2.0 models. This drive has a Micro-B USB 3.0 connector.

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ntPhoto by: Bill Detwiler / TechRepublic
ntCaption by: Bill Detwiler

Cracking open the ioSafe Rugged Portable hard drive: Micro-B USB 3.0 cable connector

ntThis photo shows a close-up of the Micro-B USB 3.0 cable supplied with our ioSafe Rugged Portable test unit. The cable’s other end has a Type A USB connector–standard on most computers.

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ntPhoto by: Bill Detwiler / TechRepublic
ntCaption by: Bill Detwiler

Cracking open the ioSafe Rugged Portable hard drive: Screws hidden under rubber feet

ntEach of the ioSafe Rugged Portable’s four rubber feet hide a Phillips screw. You’ll need to remove these screws to access the internal hardware.

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ntPhoto by: Bill Detwiler / TechRepublic
ntCaption by: Bill Detwiler

Cracking open the ioSafe Rugged Portable hard drive: Removing the bottom panel screws

ntI expected the ioSafe Rugged Portable’s enclosure to be sealed with tamper resistant screws, not these standard Phillips ones.

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ntPhoto by: Bill Detwiler / TechRepublic
ntCaption by: Bill Detwiler

Cracking open the ioSafe Rugged Portable hard drive: Case screw and gasket

ntEach case screw has a rubber gasket, which helps keep the hard drive dry when the unit is submerged in liquid.

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ntPhoto by: Bill Detwiler / TechRepublic
ntCaption by: Bill Detwiler

Cracking open the ioSafe Rugged Portable hard drive: Removing the bottom panel

ntWith the bottom panel’s screws removed, you can lift off the panel, which is not held in place with adhesive or snaps.

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ntPhoto by: Bill Detwiler / TechRepublic
ntCaption by: Bill Detwiler

Cracking open the ioSafe Rugged Portable hard drive: First look inside

ntLifting off the bottom panel, we get our first look inside the ioSafe Rugged Portable hard drive.

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ntPhoto by: Bill Detwiler / TechRepublic
ntCaption by: Bill Detwiler

Cracking open the ioSafe Rugged Portable hard drive: Bottom panel

ntPhoto by: Bill Detwiler / TechRepublic
ntCaption by: Bill Detwiler

Cracking open the ioSafe Rugged Portable hard drive: Internal hardware

ntA large rubber cushion surrounds the top of our ioSafe Rugged Portable’s 750GB Seagate hard drive.

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ntPhoto by: Bill Detwiler / TechRepublic
ntCaption by: Bill Detwiler

Cracking open the ioSafe Rugged Portable hard drive: Removing the upper hard drive cushion

ntBefore removing the ioSafe Rugged Portable’s hard drive, you’ll need to remove the upper cushion. Luckily, it’s not glued to the drive or case, and you can easily lift it out of the enclosure.

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ntPhoto by: Bill Detwiler / TechRepublic
ntCaption by: Bill Detwiler

Cracking open the ioSafe Rugged Portable hard drive: Upper hard drive cushion

ntPhoto by: Bill Detwiler / TechRepublic
ntCaption by: Bill Detwiler

Cracking open the ioSafe Rugged Portable hard drive: Drive assembly lifted away from the enclosure

ntAfter removing the hard drive’s upper cushion, you can lift the drive assembly (drive, metal bracket, and interface card) out of the enclosure, but not too far. A thin ribbon cable connects the drive assembly to the enclosure.

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ntPhoto by: Bill Detwiler / TechRepublic
ntCaption by: Bill Detwiler

Cracking open the ioSafe Rugged Portable hard drive: Drive assembly ribbon cable

ntA thin ribbon cable connects the drive assembly’s SATA/USB interface board to the enclosure. Before completely removing the drive, you’ll need to disconnect this cable.

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ntPhoto by: Bill Detwiler / TechRepublic
ntCaption by: Bill Detwiler

Cracking open the ioSafe Rugged Portable hard drive: Drive assebmly removed

ntWith the drive assembly removed, we can see a second rubber cushion.

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ntPhoto by: Bill Detwiler / TechRepublic
ntCaption by: Bill Detwiler

Cracking open the ioSafe Rugged Portable hard drive: Removing the lower drive cushion

ntPhoto by: Bill Detwiler / TechRepublic
ntCaption by: Bill Detwiler

Cracking open the ioSafe Rugged Portable hard drive: Lower drive cushion

ntPhoto by: Bill Detwiler / TechRepublic
ntCaption by: Bill Detwiler

Cracking open the ioSafe Rugged Portable hard drive: Removing the O-ring from the enclosure

ntAn O-ring helps seal the enclosure when the bottom panel is attached. You can easily lift it away from its groove in the enclosure.

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ntPhoto by: Bill Detwiler / TechRepublic
ntCaption by: Bill Detwiler

Cracking open the ioSafe Rugged Portable hard drive: Enclsoure O-ring

ntPhoto by: Bill Detwiler / TechRepublic
ntCaption by: Bill Detwiler

Cracking open the ioSafe Rugged Portable hard drive: Near empty enclosure

ntWith the drive assembly, both cushions, and the O-ring gone, there’s nothing left to remove inside the ioSafe Rugged Portable’s enclosure.

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ntPhoto by: Bill Detwiler / TechRepublic
ntCaption by: Bill Detwiler

Cracking open the ioSafe Rugged Portable hard drive: Port and drive activity light PCB

ntThe small PCB that contains the USB port, drive activity light, and ribbon cable, is glued to the enclosure–as is the metal bracket that holds it in place. A small plastic cap, which acts as the inside of the Kensington security slot, is also glued in place.

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ntIt appears that the PCB and cap are placed in the enclosure and then covered with hot silicone glue (or similar substance). While the glue is still warm, the metal retaining bracket is then placed over the PCB and cap and attached with two screws.

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ntPhoto by: Bill Detwiler / TechRepublic
ntCaption by: Bill Detwiler

Cracking open the ioSafe Rugged Portable hard drive: Drive assembly

ntThe drive assembly on this ioSafe Rugged Portable, consists of a 750GB Seagate hard drive (mechanical), a metal bracket, and SATA/USB interface board.

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ntPhoto by: Bill Detwiler / TechRepublic
ntCaption by: Bill Detwiler

Cracking open the ioSafe Rugged Portable hard drive: Drive assembly - bottom

ntPhoto by: Bill Detwiler / TechRepublic
ntCaption by: Bill Detwiler

Cracking open the ioSafe Rugged Portable hard drive: Removing the drive bracket screws

ntFour Phillips screws hold the metal bracket to the drive–two on the side and two on the bottom.

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ntPhoto by: Bill Detwiler / TechRepublic
ntCaption by: Bill Detwiler

Cracking open the ioSafe Rugged Portable hard drive: Drive and metal bracket

ntPhoto by: Bill Detwiler / TechRepublic
ntCaption by: Bill Detwiler

Cracking open the ioSafe Rugged Portable hard drive: 750GB Seagate (ST9750420AS) HDD

ntOur ioSafe Rugged Portable came with a 750GB 7200RPM Seagate Momentus SATA hard drive (ST9750420AS).

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ntPhoto by: Bill Detwiler / TechRepublic
ntCaption by: Bill Detwiler

Cracking open the ioSafe Rugged Portable hard drive: Completely disassembled

ntI was honestly surprised by how easy the ioSafe Rugged Portable hard drive was to crack open. Using a standard Philips screwdriver, I was able to open the case and remove the drive in less than two minutes.

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ntThis makes the enclosure simple to work on, but could also allow an unauthorized person to quickly make off with your drive—even if the enclosure is secured with the Kensington security slot. To mitigate this risk, you should use the included TrueCrypt encryption software or a similar product.

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ntAs I witnessed at CES 2011, the ioSafe Rugged Portable can take a lot of abuse. It’s well built and uses standard components.

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ntAlthough it’s not designed to withstand extreme heat, it can protect your data better than the average external hard drive. And if the drive is damaged beyond use, ioSafe’s data recovery service let’s you get a comparable replacement with your data preloaded.

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ntPhoto by: Bill Detwiler / TechRepublic
ntCaption by: Bill Detwiler