Introduction

Robust storage is starting to become a hot item. Just recently Cameron tested the A-DATA SH93, a water and shock proof external USB drive. Many years ago I was the first to test Corsair's Flash Voyager and while testing I boiled the drive in water on my stove and then froze the USB thumb drive in the freezer. I can't claim that I have ever ran into a situation where I found myself in below freezing temperatures for an extended period of time, or in a hot tub with my portable storage, but at least I am prepared for when the time comes.

The most abuse most portable storage devices run into has to do with gravity. I can't count the number of drives that have fallen off of a shelf. In one day a friend of mine was over at the house and tipped over a desk with his chair, sending three Western Digital Raptors from an 8 drive RAID array to the floor while they were still spinning; it was a total loss. Portable storage has to take abuses like this every day, be it falling off of a desk or getting kicked around in a backpack or purse.

Today we are taking a look at the SimpleTOUGH from Hitachi, an external USB drive enclosure that is made to handle the abuse power users, rock climbers and friends over to play some Modern Warfare.