Can This Hard Drive Withstand Electrocution From 1 Million Volt Tesla Coil?
- Posted on January 14, 2012 at 1:47am by
Liz Klimas
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ioSafe put its new Rugged Portable Thunderbolt hard drive to a lightning test. (Photo: CNET)
ioSafe, a company that makes “disaster-proof” hardware and touts its technology as like a “little black box” for hard drives, has conducted some pretty extreme demonstrations to showcase the beating its products can withstand. CNET reports that for the last three years at the Consumer Electronics Show, ioSafe has put its Rugged Portable devices to the test, but this year was, shall we say, shockingly unlike the others.
To unveil its Rugged Portable Thunderbolt hard drive, ioSafe felt it had to stay true to the product’s namesake and test it with a 1 million volt Tesla coil.
Watch the raw footage of the test from CNET here:
Here’s a cleaner cut demo provided by ioSafe to MSNBC:
CNET describes that the demo took place with several safety precautions in a large warehouse: it was in a cage; the person holding the drive wore a Faraday suit; and spectators put their electronic devices in an antistatic bag as a precaution.
At the end of the demo, the drive worked. But here’s why: CNET explains that because the drive’s case is made out of metal and the person holding it was wearing a Faraday suit, that drive was immediately grounded during its electrocution, and therefore not in danger of being damaged. So what was the point CEO Robb Moore wanted to make about the drive if he wasn’t really showcasing its durability? CNET has more:
Spectator's electronics were put in an antistatic bag. (Photo: CNET)
And the mystery was solved with Robb’s next trick, which was completely unexpected and the best part of the demo.
Prior to the event, he had asked all of us — the invited members of the press — to put our beloved computers and other electronics (except for cameras) into a large antistatic bag for “safety purposes.” This bag was put on a table and grounded to the floor with two large wires. When the part with the Tesla coil was done and right before Moore was about to hook the Thunderbolt drive back to the MacBook, he, with finesse, “accidentally” tripped on the wires and pulled the entire bag into a large basin full of water that just happened to be nearby (which I originally thought would be used to test the drive against water submersion). Half of the bag sank almost instantly, causing at least one journalist to scream, “Oh my God! My work laptop! All of my work!” and everyone else to feel very uneasy, to say the least.
Leaving the crowd a few long seconds for the uneasiness to grow and sink in, Moore then showed us another identical bag, hidden in a corner, and said “Well, we have the backup, guys!” As it turned out, the original bag, which housed our precious tools, was swapped out with an identical bag when we were busy watching the Tesla coil. The whole fancy show was just a diversion for Moore’s last trick to show us how vulnerable our data could be. And that’s the gist of the demo. And yes, the drive was later indeed plugged in and the data was found intact.
While the Tesla demo was just for show Moore’s point was to make people understand the need for data protection. CNET reports that the 500GB Rugged Portable Thunderbolt will be available later in 2012 for about $500 and comes with up to $5,000 worth of data recovery protection should anything happen to the device.
ioSafe Rugged Portable Thunderbolt hard drive. (Photo: CNET)
While the hard drive may not have been subjected to real physical damage this year, PC World notes that in previous years, ioSafe has put its products to physical tests such as making it the target for 12 gauge shotgun and trying to flatten it with steamroller.
ioSafe conducted the shotgun test again this year. Here’s the footage from that test:
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Sniper48
Posted on January 17, 2012 at 5:58amVolts…amps. What’s the difference? Find out BEFORE you are impressed.
Report Post »K Chad Roberts
Posted on January 16, 2012 at 7:29pmNot that impressive. Any external hard drive with a metal case will likely survive that type of abuse. The case acts as a Faraday cage.
Report Post »ObserverOnTheHill
Posted on January 15, 2012 at 7:38pmI just go with CARBONITE, as advertised by Beck and many others – auto back up and no worries
Report Post »OLDBIKEFIXER
Posted on January 15, 2012 at 3:18pmThis is so totally lame!
First off, a Tesla coil puts out extremely high voltage, but almost no amperage. It makes for an impressive light show, but that’s about it. We’ve all seen people with their hair standing on end while getting “zapped” by the arc of a Tesla coil. And then they walked away and lived happily ever after.
Second, if there is a “Faraday Cage” around the hard drive, it’s guaranteed to survive the arc of the Tesla coil. A Faraday Cage can be anything that surrounds the device that needs protecting. Common Faraday Cages usually consist of a very thin layer of aluminum electroplated onto a layer of plastic film. They cost just a few pennies to make.
I agree with “Cat”. Drop that hard drive on the kitchen floor and see what happens to it. Or, you can do what my bimbo ex-girlfriend did and spray some Windex into the opening to “clean the old files out”. Yes, she was a natural blonde.
Report Post »Cat
Posted on January 15, 2012 at 1:34pm…
Been a long time since messing with Tesla coils
But, if memory serves, Tesla coils produces high voltage static electricity with minor amperage.
Plug that sucker into a 220v, 60amp receptacle and watch what happens.
The glass (or aluminum) platters will fuse together.
Here’s another test, drop that baby from a kitchen countertop, then shake.
Report Post »The crackly sound inside the enclosure will give you a clue as to the state of your data.
grannyrecipe
Posted on January 15, 2012 at 7:02amTesla girls, Tesla girls…
Orchestral Maneuvers in the Dark
Report Post »mpoconnor7
Posted on January 15, 2012 at 8:49amCan it stand an electrical burst of 1.21 Gigawatts?
Report Post »Ruler4You
Posted on January 15, 2012 at 10:36amI’d rather loose the drive to a high voltage arc than to thieves. What are you doing about virus protection and 256 bit encryption of ALL personal data?
Report Post »dissent
Posted on January 15, 2012 at 12:45amThat’s all fine and good, but at this juncture in history, I’d be more impressed by a hard drive able to quickly and thoroughly DESTROY data…not keep it safe no matter what I do. Never know, if America loses this year (and Barry wins), suddenly my conservative views might be illegal and any conservative writing might need to disappear quickly.
Report Post »Cat
Posted on January 15, 2012 at 9:23pmDissent >
CyberScrub‘s ’cyberCide Data Destruction’ program might do it …
Report Post »Bobj_1960
Posted on January 14, 2012 at 8:08pmI’ll be impressed when they do these tests with the computer running in real-world conditions. These guys are amateur magicians
Report Post »lukerw
Posted on January 14, 2012 at 5:14pmI’d only want one… if it surrounded my whole house!
Report Post »mackpaul1967
Posted on January 14, 2012 at 12:57pmThis just a faraday cage please google it
Report Post »tharpdevenport
Posted on January 14, 2012 at 5:39pmI think the fact he put in a Faraday suite backs that up … read it.
Report Post »MR_ANDERSON
Posted on January 14, 2012 at 12:50pmShocking!
Report Post »Nations
Posted on January 14, 2012 at 12:40pmA massive EMT just might necessitate the need for such a device. 2012 might just mean Be Prepared!
Report Post »TyrannyNoMore
Posted on January 14, 2012 at 3:54pmI believe you meant EMP….(Electro Magnetic Pulse) as apposed to emergency medical technician.
Report Post »Anthony7
Posted on January 15, 2012 at 4:45pmOf course he did tranny!!!!!!!!!
Report Post »Everone knows an electro magnetic timebomb ( EMT) are not for real….or are they…then that would mean…….uhoo
Gonzo
Posted on January 14, 2012 at 8:47amI gotta have one! I’m around Tesla coils all the time. If I had a penny for every time my Iphone has been zapped….
Report Post »ares338
Posted on January 14, 2012 at 8:35amHmmmmm…….this equipment would come in handy in the Zombie Appocalypse.
Report Post »AmazingGrace8
Posted on January 14, 2012 at 12:15pmI was thinking using it on the Taliban. “Magic” from USMC!!!
Report Post »qpwillie
Posted on January 14, 2012 at 7:26amA few years ago, I had two hard drives in a computer that went through a house fire. The tower had pretty much melted around them but both hard drives still worked.
Report Post »MrMagoo
Posted on January 14, 2012 at 2:16amImpressive.Birdshot in the 12 gauge?I wonder what a .00 buck would do at 10′?or 20′?……..
Report Post »Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}
Posted on January 14, 2012 at 2:32amI believe the term would be “swiss cheeze.”
Report Post »DrammyCoke
Posted on January 14, 2012 at 6:52amYou sound a bit like Napoleon Dynamite. Even with bird shot it is an impressive demo.
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