ioSafe Duo
Waterproof, Fireproof & Theft-Proof
Raid Box Runs Eerily Silent
Review by Erik VlietinckCompany: CRU Data Security Group, LLCPrice: $399 (Empty); $649 (8 TB); $899 (16 TB)Rating:Hot: Secure local backup; nice design; silent
when running; easily replaceable partsNot:The ioSafe Duo unit is a hard drive/SSD drive unit for two disks
that you can set up in RAID 0, 1, JBOD, or Span. The unit is
fireproof, waterproof, and theft-proof. It’s available as an empty
box or preloaded with two hard disk drives of 4 TB or 8 TB each.
The unit has one USB-A port and one USB-C port at the front,
and it connects to your computer through a USB-C type USB
3.2 Gen 2 port on the back. Inside my 8 TB test unit were two
Seagate IronWolf disks.
The unit weighs a backbreaking 15 kg (33 lbs) with drives,
which is entirely attributable to the fireproof and waterproof
materials. Behind the fireproof front door is a waterproof door.
A nice effect of this massive physical protection is that the Duo
is dead silent.
The Duo resists a temperature of up to 1,550°F for 30 min-
utes, and ingress from waterjets and submersion in 9' of water
for three days. All of the ports and even the RAID jumpers and
fan at the back are exposed, yet they all resist fire and water due
to Datacast and HydroSafe technology, both ioSafe patents.
To start with an empty Duo or replace disks, you’ll find a
specially designed hex tool in the box that flexes to prevent
you from under- or over-tightening the screws, or damaging
the waterproof gasket.
The ioSafe Duo is your best bet for a safe local backup and, in
my opinion, more secure than cloud backups where you have to
take into account a number of issues like exposure to hacking.
It’s not very fast, though, at 220 MB/sec max for my test unit.
If you fill it up with two SSDs, you should be able to reach speeds
of around 400 MB/sec, even in a RAID 1 configuration.
The ioSafe Duo also comes with two years of free data recov-
ery service included. nREVIEWS › ›> PHOTOSHOP USER>^ APRIL 2020[ 110 ]