Having backup devices to prevent data loss is always a good idea. If you’re willing to go even further to protect your files, maybe rugged storage is something to consider.
What Makes a Device Rugged?
There’s no exact definition of “rugged”, though there are some standards that provide clear guidelines.MIL-STD is a good example: it requires devices to survive a sequence of over 20 drops that include impacts on each face and corner. After that, the device must remain functional and, if it has a screen, it must be unharmed.
Ingress Protection, or IP, is also a good way to measure a device’s durability. In this case, there’s a certification process that states it can withstand a given amount of contact with water and/or dust. It should be noted that MIL-STD doesn’t include testing for water and dust resistance, and, similarly, the IP rating has nothing to do with physical damage.
Another important difference is that there’s no governing body for the MIL-STD specification. You have to take the manufacturer’s word (and check the warranty fine print). IP ratings, on the other hand, are given by theInternational Electrotechnical Commission(IEC), a trusted global organization that has strict requirements to grant them.
Therefore, the precise definition of “rugged” varies, and you have to consider your needs. If you worry more, say, about your portable HDD sustaining physical impact than about it getting wet, you should prioritize MIL-STD. If your main concern, however, is with dust-filled contacts on an SD card rather than a fall to the floor, then look for models with a good IP rating.
Rugged External Disks
The idea of life-proofing storage isn’t new. Rugged internal drives, however, are aimed at business customers and are not openly available for sale. That leads us to external disks, of which there are a few to mention.
LaCie, a popular brand among professionals who need reliable data protection, has been making such devices for decades. They have consistently appeared, over the years, in our guides for the best externalhard disks—andbest external solid-state drives, too.
Samsung has recently entered the gamewith the T7 Shield. It’s essentially the same device as the regular T7 external SSD but with a shock-resistant casing.
Fortified USB Flash Drives
If a reinforced HDD or SSD feels like overkill, perhaps you may be interested in a rugged USB stick. There are also some offerings from reputable brands out there.
One of those is theFlash Survivor Stealth, by Corsair. It features a threaded design with an aircraft-grade anodized aluminum enclosure. Such toughness earned it a place on ourbest USB flash driveslist.
Other companies that offer rugged USB sticks are Kingston, withthe IronKey series(which also offers advanced encryption), and LaCie, with the XTremKey—though it’s hard to find a new unit of this model since the company stopped making them in the mid-2010s. Unlike the casing of the company’s hard and solid-state disks, which feature a bright orange bumper, LaCie’s thumb drive uses a less flashy cylindrical design that resembles lipstick. Kingston’s offering has a more traditional body, also made of metal.
Reinforced Memory Cards
Maybe you want to protect the BMX track videos taken with your action camera. Maybe you want to be extra-safe in case your drone fails mid-flight.
Rugged memory cards are probably the category with more options among the three. Most of the major manufacturers of regular SD cards—including Delkin, Sony, Samsung, Kingston, Adata, and Lexar—also make reinforced versions of them. At a premium, yes, but protection virtually always comes at a cost.
Some companies call them “industrial” SD cards, but the principle is consistent: they withstand damage, work at temperatures as low as -13°F (-25°C) and can be stored in places as hot as 85°F (185°F), and are resistant to X-rays.
The promise is that these devices are ready for everything you throw at them and then some. Do they deliver? Well, YouTube has plenty of videos in which peoplewash memory cards with their clothes,bake them and then freeze them,run over them with cars—you get the idea. There are all sorts of storage device torture to choose from.
Data Protection Is More Than Encryption and Backup
It’s not that you shouldn’t useencryptionwhenever possible—you definitely shouldlearn how to encrypt your storage devices.Backing up your datais equally important—and easy, since there aremultiple ways to make safeguard copies.
Encryption protects against people trying to snoop on your files, while backups ensure you won’t be left uncovered if your computer’s drive goes kaput. Neither, though, protect your data from physical shock, water, extreme heat, or the sorts.
Therefore, using rugged storage devices is yet another layer of security. One that’s not digital, dealing instead with dangers that are very physical. What we can be almost sure of, though, is that no matter how reinforced a storage device is,it will blend.
