Data Backup Digest

With more of us entrusting our data to cloud services, you probably know how important it is to protect your data from online threats. Storing your data in the cloud is fine, but it shouldn’t be the only solution you opt for – the best backup plans have redundancy built-in, where your data is stored in multiple locations on different types of devices.

As such, you need to think about how to protect your data from offline threats. This includes physical theft, which is helped by using secure facilities and encrypting the data if it does fall into the wrong hands.

But have you thought about natural disasters? There seems to be more of them happening around the world, whether it’s unrelenting storms or fire. If your common hard drive gets submerged in water or caught in flames, then it’s unlikely to survive. It doesn’t even have to be some huge natural disaster – the sprinklers going off in your office could have the same effect. That’s why you need specialist equipment to help.

One such device is the ioSafe Duo. Despite its relatively compact enclosure size, it weighs a mighty 25 pounds. That’s because it’s padded with fire and waterproof materials. The case is designed to keep your data safe in under ten feet of fresh or saltwater for three days. It can also protect against temperatures of 1550°F for half an hour.

You’ll need both of those features, since if there’s a fire then the only way to put it out is with ample amounts of water!

The elements attacking your data isn’t the only thing you need to worry about. Even the best designed drive can encounter errors, so the ioSafe Duo combats this by containing two hard drives. Your data is simultaneously stored on both, which means that if one fails then you still have another perfect copy to rely on.

RAID 1 is the default setting for the Duo, which means the data is stored on two drives, but you can adjust this from the back of the unit to be RAID 0, JBOD or SPAN. While these offer different speed and capacity benefits, if you want the best data protection then you should stick with RAID 1.

The Duo can hold two 14 TB drives; either 3.5-inch or 2.5-inch SATA drives. Alternatively, you can use 2.5-inch SATA SSDs. This gives a maximum storage capacity of 28 TB if you use the two drives as a collective, but as mentioned it’s better to use the RAID 1 format.

The back of the case offers a USB-C port, plus USB-C and USB-A ports on the front. An internal 92mm fan keeps things cool and the unit includes a 60W power adapter.

Of course, you don’t have to opt for the ioSafe Duo. This is just one of the many choices available on the market. Shop around and see what’s best for you in terms of protection – try not to skimp too much on value in favour of quality though, since you’ll thank yourself if disaster does strike!