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Storage

ioSafe external drive takes shotgun blast and keeps working

By Bill Detwiler January 11, 2011, 9:40 AM PST on Twitter billdetwiler

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ioSafe external drive takes shotgun blast and keeps working

Go-Anywhere Ultra Rugged Portable Hard Drive

Go-Anywhere Ultra Rugged Portable Hard Drive

At CES 2011, ioSafe demonstrated the durability of its Go-Anywhere Ultra Rugged Portable Hard Drive by letting reporters shoot it with a shotgun. I had a chance to take a few shots myself.

I apologize for the graininess of some photos. I shot them with my iPhone 4 in less-than-optimal light.

Photo by: Bill Detwiler / TechRepublic

Caption by: Bill Detwiler

ioSafe external drive takes shotgun blast and keeps working

Shooting Range

Shooting Range

The shooting range was only a few minutes car ride from the Las Vegas Convention Center where CES 2011 was held.

Photo by: Bill Detwiler / TechRepublic

Caption by: Bill Detwiler

ioSafe external drive takes shotgun blast and keeps working

Range setup

Range setup

ioSafe had reserved a section of the range for the demonstration.

Photo by: Bill Detwiler / TechRepublic

Caption by: Bill Detwiler

ioSafe external drive takes shotgun blast and keeps working

Demo-lition

Demo-lition

ioSafe dubbed their event the CES Demo-lition 2011: Hard Drive Shootout.

Photo by: Bill Detwiler / TechRepublic

Caption by: Bill Detwiler

ioSafe external drive takes shotgun blast and keeps working

Testing setup

Testing setup

ioSafe had a MacBook Pro and external monitor that they used to prove that the drive was working both before and after the demo-lition.

Photo by: Bill Detwiler / TechRepublic

Caption by: Bill Detwiler

ioSafe external drive takes shotgun blast and keeps working

Drive before being shot

Drive before being shot

Before the shooting began, the ioSafe representative took a few pictures with a digital camera and copied them to the drive. The ioSafe drive enclosure is milled from a solid piece of aircraft-grade aluminum.

Photo by: Bill Detwiler / TechRepublic

Caption by: Bill Detwiler

ioSafe external drive takes shotgun blast and keeps working

Custom USB 3.0 connector

Custom USB 3.0 connector

The drive has a custom USB 3.0 connector.

Photo by: Bill Detwiler / TechRepublic

Caption by: Bill Detwiler

ioSafe external drive takes shotgun blast and keeps working

Squeezing the drive in a vice

Squeezing the drive in a vice

ioSafe says the drive provides “crush protection up to 5,000 lbs.” The first durability test was putting the drive in a vice.

Photo by: Bill Detwiler / TechRepublic

Caption by: Bill Detwiler

ioSafe external drive takes shotgun blast and keeps working

Submerging the drive in water

Submerging the drive in water

According to ioSafe, the drive provides “immersion protection up to 30′ for 3 days.”

Photo by: Bill Detwiler / TechRepublic

Caption by: Bill Detwiler

ioSafe external drive takes shotgun blast and keeps working

Displacing the water with alcohol

Displacing the water with alcohol

The first step for preparing the drive after being submerged was to squirt a little isopropyl alcohol in the port.

Photo by: Bill Detwiler / TechRepublic

Caption by: Bill Detwiler

ioSafe external drive takes shotgun blast and keeps working

Blowing out the port with canned air

Blowing out the port with canned air

After the alcohol, came a little canned air to clear the last drops of water.

Photo by: Bill Detwiler / TechRepublic

Caption by: Bill Detwiler

ioSafe external drive takes shotgun blast and keeps working

Still working

Still working

The drive still worked after being squeezed in the vice and submerged in water.

Photo by: Bill Detwiler / TechRepublic

Caption by: Bill Detwiler

ioSafe external drive takes shotgun blast and keeps working

First shot

First shot

The ioSafe tester was the first to take a shot at the drive. He’s using a Remington 870 shotgun on full choke from about 30 feet away.

Photo by: Bill Detwiler / TechRepublic

Caption by: Bill Detwiler

ioSafe external drive takes shotgun blast and keeps working

Drive after first shot

Drive after first shot

After shooting the drive, the ioSafe tester reconnected the drive to the MacBook Pro. The drive worked. You can see the indentations made by the pellets from the shells.

Photo by: Bill Detwiler / TechRepublic

Caption by: Bill Detwiler

ioSafe external drive takes shotgun blast and keeps working

Connected to the computer after a single shotgun blast

Connected to the computer after a single shotgun blast

After showing us that the drive was still readable by the computer, it was time for everyone else to take a shot–including me.

Photo by: Bill Detwiler / TechRepublic

Caption by: Bill Detwiler

ioSafe external drive takes shotgun blast and keeps working

After five shots

After five shots

Here’s what the case looked like after five hits from a Remington 870 shotgun.

Photo by: Bill Detwiler / TechRepublic

Caption by: Bill Detwiler

ioSafe external drive takes shotgun blast and keeps working

It still works

It still works

After five shotgun hits, the ioSafe drive still worked.

Photo by: Bill Detwiler / TechRepublic

Caption by: Bill Detwiler

ioSafe external drive takes shotgun blast and keeps working

Not designed to be bullet proof

Not designed to be bullet proof

As the ioSafe tester reminded us, this drive isn’t designed to be bullet proof. And after the shotgun test was over, they let us have a little fun with an M16.

Photo by: Bill Detwiler / TechRepublic

Caption by: Bill Detwiler

ioSafe external drive takes shotgun blast and keeps working

Drive after shot from an M16

Drive after shot from an M16

After a single hit from a M16 round, the drive if finally dead. After

Photo by: Bill Detwiler / TechRepublic

Caption by: Bill Detwiler

ioSafe external drive takes shotgun blast and keeps working

Drive with bullet hole

Drive with bullet hole

here you can see how the bullet passed through the enclosure and the drive inside. After looking at the dead drive for a few minutes, we all got a chance to try our aim with the M16. I was able to hit the drive with several rounds from a single full-auto burst.

Photo by: Bill Detwiler / TechRepublic

Caption by: Bill Detwiler

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By Bill Detwiler
Bill Detwiler is the Editor for Technical Content and Ecosystem at Celonis. He is the former Editor in Chief of TechRepublic and previous host of TechRepublic's Dynamic Developer podcast and Cracking Open, CNET and TechRepublic's popular online show.
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