Storing Hard Drives in a Fire Safe

Comparing Fire Safe Storage Devices
When it comes to protecting your business data, digital video or photography images you'll want the best storage system available. Protecting your backup media (CD's DVD's) and portable hard drives from fire means you'll need a fireproof safe with the correct fire rating of UL 125. This UL Class 125 standard means that your media will maintain integrity in a fire up to 1700 degrees F for 1, 2, or 3 hours. The higher the fire rating, the more expensive the fire safe.

Using Hard Drives in a Fireproof Safe
Computer electronics create heat, hard drives create heat...your computer has fans, your laptop has fans...heat is the number one enemy of hard drives and a leading cause of hard drive failure. Fireproof hard drives with air flow cooling have been engineered to protect your data from fire disaster and also remain reliable during normal daily operation. Storing hard drives that you intend to use for daily backup inside a traditional closed door fire safe will suffice for very small amounts of data, photos or video. These types of fireproof safes are not designed for small, medium and large businesses that rely on computer data to maintain operations. Daily computer system and hard drive reliability are the mainstays of moving your business forward at all times during the year and even more so in a challenging economy.

It's been said that today's businesses are only as good as their data, this means having a strong backup and recovery plan.

not be your best option.

http://www.hddfiresafe.com/hard_drive/storing-disk-drives-in-fire-safes.htm

DVR Hard Drives

Data Storage and Recovery of Digital Video
Today's DVR surveillance devices offer a wide range of features and methods for backup and archiving digital video. From compressed MPEG-4 video stored on hard drives to DVD writers/burners. Many of today's systems also have USB ports to connect external hard drives for data backup.

What would happen if your DVR was lost in a fire disaster?
Recovering data after a fire disaster is no easy task and this valuable digital video could be required by your insurance company to verify inventory, etc. Today there are options to ensure data integrity by using fireproof dvr hard drives or fireproof external USB storage devices. For little more than the cost of a standard hard drive you can ensure complete security and recovery of your data, mitigating any security risks that arise.

By hardening your existing DVR or CCTV systems you'll rest easy that your loss prevention measures stand up to the test.

Home Media Servers

Looking to get the most out of your Home Media Server?
Try Home Server Hacks.com to learn how to get the most out of your existing media server, build your own for less than $400 and get the latest tips and tricks from the DIY crowd.

ioSafe Chooses Fujitsu Hard Drives

ioSafe offers a fireproof waterproof hard drives and has selected Fujitsu to be the official drive to power their patented technology. The Fujitsu 2.5-inch SATA Hard Disk Drives Prove the Most Resilient and Reliable in Extreme Conditions and ioSafe will integrate Fujitsu for disaster protected external and internal hard drives.

Fujitsu Computer Products of America, Inc., is a leading supplier of computer products including hard disk drives, peripherals and biometric security solution. Fujitsu's mobile HDDs, with up to 320GB(1) capacity, are available in the ioSafe 3.5 series, offering the industry a high performance and expanded capacity drive with a disaster-protected guarantee. The ioSafe 3.5 series certifies fire protection to 1,400 degrees Fahrenheit for 15 minutes (per the ASTM E119 standard) and water protection from fresh or salt water damage for full immersion at depths up to five feet for 24 hours. ioSafe adds a patented ruggedized casing to the Fujitsu 2.5-inch drive, which can then be deployed and used exactly like any other industry-standard 3.5-inch SATA HDD, but with the added capability of disaster protection.

Media Servers

Easy to use, easy on the budget
For a complete system that can be used as a file server or home media server check out the bundled ioSafe internal hard drives with the Drobo or ReadyNAS network attached storage systems.

NAS Fire Safe Systems

NAS Drives vs. USB Hard Disk Drives

What are the differences between USB drives and Network storage drives? Which is the best hard drive for you?

On the most elemental level, the USB drive simply plugs into a USB 2.0 port on your computer, laptop or server and allows you to back up data directly to the device. This is often called a direct attached storage device. On the other hand a NAS system or drive plugs into your computer or router and can be seen as additional storage by all computers on the network, thus the name Network attached storage.

When it comes to data transfer speeds there are some significant differences between each type of drive and system. USB 2.0 systems average about a 60 - 80 mb/s data transfer rate. This depends on the true connection speed and whether you are in a read mode, write mode or a read/write mode. NAS drives can transfer data up to 1 GB minute. Most of these drives have a 10/100/1000 Mb Ethernet interface allowing for rapid transfer of data across the network. These speeds will of course slow down if you are using a wireless connection.

If you or your business has already invested into a file server then it may be best to attach a USB drive or system directly to the server. Using the fireproof USB from ioSafe will quickly give you extra redundancy and fire and waterproof protection. Another option would be to purchase fire resistant internal hard drives and simply install them inside your existing server or USB storage array.

Another option that offers the most data redundancy and protection would be to bundle a DROBO NAS system or Netgear ReadyNAS. These complete systems start at price points that are very attractive and offer the most bang for the buck when it comes to the small business budget.

For businesses that are looking for common sense answers to seemingly difficult storage questions, let the experts offer you some advice...ask questions, ask for options!

Storage Server for Business

Business data backup and storage consists of several key components including storage capacity, budget, security and integrity of data, reliability of the storage device and digital asset growth.

In today's work office environment a storage server offers many benefits that can help you achieve your goals for smooth IT operations as well as a productive shared network environment. There are several options for putting together your network storage server to ensure low costs, a beneficial return on investment (ROI) as well as reliability and high availability of your vital digital data.

For the large enterprise one must first do a backup strategy cost analysis to compare removable tape backup media versus disk based systems. Key factors here include the risk for human error (the number one cause of data loss) and mitigating these risks by automating the backup process. Other important factors are data compliance issues (HIPAA, SOX, etc) and WAN congestion for off site backup. The ability to archive and the scalability of data must also be considered. If you are archiving hundreds of terabytes as part of your requirements, a boat load of DLT or LTO tapes is hard to beat. Even though disk-based archival costs are dropping rapidly, tape based options still represent probably your best archiving value.

An off site plan such as electronic vaulting online is considered by many to represent the worst solution for long-term archiving, especially if you're paying third-party monthly fees based on the amount of data stored. Online data backup strategies are very limited in archive and scalability due to high-speed connectivity costs and the cost per GB charged by third-party data centers. These costs continue to climb with each passing year.

Every company will face its own unique challenges to backup, store and protect its digital data assets. Make sure you take convenience, reliability, data transfer and backup speeds and the security of your data all into consideration.

ioSafe 3.5 Internal Hard Drives

ioSafe has released their fireproof hard drives for the internal storage market. Aptly named the ioSafe Pilot and ioSafe Squadron series, these 3.5" internal hard drives are waterproof and can be installed inside any Windows or Linux storage server or computer PC, Mac workstation or storage array.

Available as both SATA I or SATA II disk drives with 5400 rpm or 7200 rpm the 3.5" form factor can withstand a 1400 Degree F fire and complete immersion in water during a flood or fire sprinkler data disaster. Utilizing the patented FloSafe air cooled design these drives are engineered for maximum reliability to backup, store and protect your business data or digital media assets such as photos, video, mp3 or similar files. The patent pending MirrorGuard reflective coating also helps prevent damage to data on the internal hard disk.

Compatible with servers, desktop computers, storage arrays and external hard drive enclosures or USB RAID storage devices you can easily easily beef up your home media server, CCTV or DVR video system in no time flat.

The price tag for the ioSafe 3.5 drives start right at $329.00 and offer up to 320 GB of data storage. You can learn more online at http://www.hddfiresafe.com or www.iosafe.com

ioSafe 3.5 hard drive storage hardware is poised to make a huge impact on the storage market.

How to use a USB hard drive as a NAS device

Any external USB drive can be used as a network storage appliance. There are several advantages with regards to sharing on multiple computer workstations but there are many sacrifices in access speeds for reading and writing data that can make the USB drive difficult to use. Reading and writing speeds averaged between 10 - 13 Mbps. Patience is the key.

Linksys makes the NSLU2 which runs Linux. There are two USB 2.0 ports, and a wired ethernet port so that you can run two devices on your network. Simply load the installation CD and you'll be up and running in a matter of minutes.

The NSLU2 comes standard with a one-year warranty AND the Linksys Web site is full of support material, drivers, updates, and firmware.

My office used this Linksys device with our ioSafe fireproof USB external drive and had some great success for backing up data. We have since upgraded to a NAS appliance and no longer have the need for the Linksys device.

Hybrid Hard Drives

Many businesses need a backup hard drive that combines ease of use with data recovery features in one single "hybrid" product. ioSafe hardware delivers you the best in hybrid hard drive technology combining fire safe protection with waterproof and flood proof design, ensuring your data can be recovered no matter how simple or severe the disaster might be.

Using the best in standard hard drives from Seagate(R) technologies, ioSafe combines enterprise class 7200 rpm hard drives inside a fireproof safe with FloSAFE air cooled technology. This allows for the best reliability from the industry standard in hard drive engineering and technology.

The Importance of Air Cooling
The topic of air cooling of computer servers and hard drives probably doesn't need to beat into the ground more than it already has been...however there is still much education that needs to be done with respect to operating temperatures during normal day to day activities in the server room or closet.

The bottom line is, heat is the number one enemy of hard drives. Reliability is of the greatest importance when it comes to recovering data. With that said, choose a fireproof hard drive that allows for proper cooling of the hard drives and electronics, yet still maintains superior fire and flood protection.

USB RAID Drive from ioSafe Hardware

ioSafe has just released their new USB RAID backup device called the S2. Capacities for this USB Hard Disk system is up to 2TB with a RAID 0/1. The storage capacity is far greater than your traditional external drive from the retail store shelf. In todays business world external drives are a necessary part of the modern office and easier to maintain than CD or DVD backup. Keep in mind that you can easily replace tape backup drives (LTO, DLT, VXG, 4mm) with an ioSafe system and become more efficient while saving money.

The USB external drive features two removable hard drives that are also lockable for physical data security. If a hard drive fails on the unit an audible alarm will sound to notify you that a disk needs replaced. As with all ioSafe hardware you get a data storage device that is fireproof and waterproof like an aircraft black box. One of the most dynamic features of this USB RAID device is that it has airflow cooling (a key differentiator from similar products) to ensure true business class reliability.

Other standard features are a 3 year warranty and $5,000 per disk data recovery service. Getting an extra $10,000 insurance policy for your digital data is certainly priceless. It's been said before... 'You can be replaced, your data cannot.'

For more information visit http://www.hddfiresafe.com

ioSafe Named to "Top 10" Storage Vendors to Watch

ioSafe, the manufacturer of fireproof and waterproof hard drive systems and NAS storage systems was recently named to the Byte and Switch Top 10 Storage Startups to Watch list.

Topping the list at number #2 is certainly an honor for a company that is changing the landscape of digital storage and data disaster recovery.

Don't let data loss ruin your Spring

It's Springtime, the grass getting greener and the birds are starting to chirp. At our office we've already had our windows open to let in the fresh breeze. It's a time for renewal and the visual signs of change are friendly reminders of many things...including data backup plans.

Have you ever experienced a hard drive crash? If you answered yes, then you know the importance of having a readily available backup copy (no matter if that is means an external hard drive or simply a DVD or CD copy)

If you answered no, then just remember that it's not a question of if your primary hard drive will fail, it a matter of when.

How many of you have put off buying that backup hard drive or NAS device this year?

If you are preparing for Spring cleaning, go ahead and make plans for Spring data backup...and then remember to backup daily or at least weekly.

Cheers!!

Military Grade Rugged Hard Drive

If you are in the market for a portable hard drive that is durable and reliable look no further than the Olixir military grade USB, firewire or internal disk drives.

Olixir offers a full line of semi-rugged to fully-rugged transportable external hard drives, backup systems and customizable removable storage systems designed for specific applications, including military applications. They even make a RAID enclosure that can survive shock and impact.

One of our clients need a ruggedized and fireproof data disaster recovery plan - we recommended they purchase a Mobile DataVault Enterprise/Custom System from Olixir and an ioSafe fireproof USB drive. By using both of these backup devices our client could easily backup and transfer files (with plenty of room for storage growth) to the DataVault and do a nightly backup of the most critical business data to the USB drive from ioSafe, adding in extra data security from fire, flood and sprinkler systems.

Green Data Storage

IT and Data Center Infrastructure energy and environmental topics are at the forefront for IT professionals across the globe. From power and cooling to performance and availability there are countless metrics used to analyze the data center and server closest to maximize value and minimize costs.

Do you have a unique story or special insight into the green movement in the IT world? Visit www.greeendatastorage.com to learn more and share your own success stories with the rest of the IT industry.

Do you have a solution or technology or a success story that you would like to share with us pertaining to data storage and server I/O energy optimization strategies? Do you need assistance in developing, validating or reviewing your strategy or story?

Send an email to: green@storageio.com or call 651-275-1563 to learn more about green data storage and server I/O or to schedule a briefing to tell us about your energy efficiency and effectiveness story pertaining to IT data centers and data infrastructures.

Inside Look at the New DR Kit from ioSafe

We've just got the inside look at the disaster recovery kit from ioSafe hardware. Enclosed in one of the toughest (read; military spec.) and durable black pelican case enclosures you can get your hands on you can rest assured that your data recovery procedures and operations can withstand any punishment you can dish out.

With spare hard drives that are waterproof, recovery tools and a complete RAID array to get your server data up and running in no time flat these Disaster Recovery kits are definitely made for enterprise recovery. For more details you can visit www.iosafe.com or www.hddfiresafe.com

USB Drives

One of the best features of an ioSafe USB External Hard Drive devices is that you can simply plug and play with USB 2.0 directly into your computer or server. It is also possible to mirror this backup system to all of your workstations and share the fire resistant hard drive amongst all of your computers. With ioSafe you can easily add another dimension to your existing data backup plan. Most people are getting better at making backup copies of client information, accounting records and customer databases, however the idea of a fireproof hard drive is somewhat of a new concept in the world of storage. You'll find that these drives are the perfect external storage solution with the best in functionality and adaptability.

Disaster Recovery Tool Kits

No matter if you are recovering data from a crashed server, PC computer hard drive or serious disaster such as fire or flood, it's important to have a contingency plan for reducing the amount of time your hardware or servers are down. Proper planning means redundant data locations (off site and on-site) to prevent data loss that is critical to your business operations.

Most on site businesses data backup plans mean that data is stored in more than one location on the individual computer workstation. This includes redundancy on file servers, email servers and external hard drives. A solid plan for knowing where data is located and how to restore both software applications, client information and financial records can mean the difference between a few hours of downtime and a few days. Take time today to consider how your business would function without your computer systems and you'll be happy you have invested in a business continuity plan.

Field Replacement DR Kits - Tools of the Trade
Disaster recovery kits with internal computer hardware components enable the IT engineer and technician to quickly upgrade or replace failed components to network attached storage servers and USB RAID drives in the field. The ability to quickly react and correct downed servers, computers or data centers is a very important part of business continuity. Minimizing the recovery time is of great importance for large enterprise businesses with multiple locations. E.g. Retail chain with several stores across one or more cities.

A mobile Disaster Recovery kit will minimize downtime and enable far better recovery time objectives. Again, proper planning and outfitting service vehicles with tools, spare parts and data recovery equipment is a business critical element that should be considered by every CTO and CIO.

To learn more about disaster recovery and business continuity planning please visit the following websites;

http://www.entrepreneur.com/technology/gear/article174670.html
http://www.iosafe.com
http://www.seagate.com
http://www.infrant.com

Off Site Tape Backup Strategies

Tape backup planning and strategies are a very important part of business continuity and data disaster recovery. From an archival standpoint, tapes offer a convenient method of storage and small footprint for storing offsite or in a fire resistant media safe.

While tape backup does have advantages, there are many cons to tape backup drives and removable media that should be taken into consideration when planning your strategy.

Disadvantages
First of all, tape backup includes a variety of security risks including employee theft, loss, broken tapes due to operator error. Mitigating these data security risks by automating the backup process is a common approach, often using disk based backup to automate the process.

Secondly, the operational recovery from tape has long been in debate. Several research studies suggest that recovery from tapes is not as easy as it seems. Testing tapes to verify that data is recoverable often causes damage to the tape itself rendering it useless for recovery.

The costs associate with a daily, weekly and even monthly tape backup strategy approach $60,000 per business location, per year. While these costs are often unavoidable (especially for large enterprises) there are several new hardware solutions that will both mitigate the data security risks as well as strengthen disaster recovery plans.

New Methods and Approaches
Supplementing or augmenting an off site tape backup strategy with a hard disk or NAS storage server system is quickly becoming the standard. For companies that have already invested heavily into their tape drive systems, replacing new hardware and equipment is usually not feasible in the short term. However, supplementing the tape drive backup with a fire resistant and waterproof hard drive or NAS storage system provides several advantages to a single backup approach.

Deploying ioSafe hardware in an off site or on site tape backup environment provides immediate advantages over traditional tape backup.

Tape and Disk Backup Advantages
Mitigating data security risks - installing ioSafe hardware means you will now be able to automate the backup process and remove the human element from your backup strategy. Human error accounts for more data loss than any other risk. Tape backup means that your IT staff, or other employees must rotate, change, and store backup tapes.

Data recovery and verification from disk has proven time and again that RPO and RTO can be achieved to an "up to the point of disaster." With ioSafe data storage hardware you'll be able to recover your data from today, not last night's tape or last week's data.

When it comes to ROI (return on investment) and overall costs associated with data backup, combining a disk based system means you'll save more money. Even if you still need to do a tape archive of your data, you can now reduce from a daily tape rotation to a weekly - reducing costs of staff as well as equipment.

This belts and suspenders approach to off site tape backup has many advantages for both small and large businesses. As you reevaluate your on site backup plan and your offsite strategy, consider deploying ioSafe technology. After all, data backup is like an insurance policy... how much coverage do you need??

Best Wishes for 2008 Data Storage

As the new year blooms here at our office I am thankful for many things. I have a great job, work with some very great people and have the opportunity to grow with this business. All of my efforts here benefit the entire company, which in turn creates a better future for myself and those around me. For 2008 I created a list that includes some of my favorite pieces of hardware / software and several "wish list" items that I think every technology lover would like to have :)

1) Sophisticated design elements to otherwise bland data storage. Lacie continues to lead the pack and push the envelope of product design when it comes to hard disk drives. From the new Neil Poulton designed USB external drive to the golden disk and lego blocks, business and home digital data storage has never looked so good!

2) Email spam blocker that is easy on the wallet!
Google offers a great spam filtering service for your personal or business email accounts and so does FuseMail.com

3) For the growing enterprise business that needs a belt and suspenders data backup device I like the Disk to Disk to Tape devices from Breece Hill. If you have never heard of this company, they are certainly worth the consideration as you make your storage plans for this new year.

4) Small business Internal or External RAID systems from Accordance Systems
I recently learned about Accordance RAID storage controllers while researching the web for a cost effective solution for a small business client. The ARAID provides small office and home office (SOHO) users with the same level of data protection traditionally only available in large enterprise environments at a fraction of the cost!

5) Off site tape backup supplement from ioSafe data storage hardware.
For business data that needs the best data recovery protection an ioSafe solution installed at your off site or on site facility will ensure broader business continuity protection in the event of a data disaster.

6) Xbox 360 or Nintendo Wii with Guitar Hero III
Okay, this has nothing to do with data storage, but in your spare time away from the office it's great fun to let your inner rock star shine! If you have never played this game before you should at least try the demo at your local retailer - so much fun!

Digital Asset Storage for your business

The storage and easy access of digital data and intellectual property for businesses is a crucial element to daily operations and business longevity. Long term digital asset storage on hard disk drives is increasingly popular as storage requirements for even the smallest business are on the increase, while the cost of storage continues to drop.

Maintaining a solid backup plan and strategy for recovery are key elements for any business. One often overlooked aspect is recovery from fire, flood and water damage. ioSafe hardware is unique in that you can backup and storage your digital data into a fireproof USB drive or network attached storage device with the same ease as any other external hardware.

While the costs for fire proof protection are much greater than traditional data storage you will rest assured that your data can be recovered even if the unthinkable happens - a real world fire or flood disaster.