Flip2Disk

5 January 2005

The portable data storage business continues to expand exponentially and it is increasingly difficult for manufacturers to get their products noticed in such a crowded market. One that did manage to catch our attention is the Flip2Disk from Amacom Technologies.

Introduction

Flip2Disk comes in capacities up to 100 GBytes, connects via a range of options (such as USB 2.0 or PCMCIA interface card) and supports both PC and Mac platforms. It also draws its power from the interface directly, so there is no need for a power adaptor – the first requirement of a truly portable device.

Since Flip2Disk is pure plug-and-play there are no drivers to install and it is also hot-swappable. Plug it into the USB port and you're ready to go.

Prepare Yourself for a Shock

Portable devices must be robust enough to withstand the knockabout of a commercial environment (if our lab is anything to go by) and Flip2Disk is protected by something Amacom calls Shoc Bloc. This is a shock-absorbent and vibration-resistant rubber coating which encloses the drive itself. This means the Flip2Disk should easily withstand a drop from, say, desk height. In transport, the Flip2Disk comes in a rather smart, well-padded case which increases resilience dramatically.

Back Up, Back Up

As well as simple data transfer and portability of information, Flip2Disk excels in its back-up and disaster recovery support. The FlipBack software supplied as part of the package allows you to make a mirror image of your hard drive (rather like Norton Ghost) including the boot sector, system files and network settings. This goes some way to curtailing nail-biting, particularly if you are a Windows user and waiting for the inevitable crash.

The DataSync utility also bundled allows you to maintain synchronisation between your system hard drive and Flip2Disk using HotSync. This can be triggered automatically on insertion (as is usual with HotSync) although you have plenty of control over configuration.

All this means that Flip2Disk can function as a true disaster recovery solution, albeit for a standalone PC. In the event of a catastrophic failure, Flip2Disk will completely restore your system, right down to the boot sector.

Conclusion

Portable data storage is fairly unexciting, but we liked Flip2Disk. The unit we tested produced acceptable data transfer rates and had a lovely robust feel about it. Although we did not test it, there is an option for DiskStation, a loading tray for a standard drive bay for semi-permanent connection. But it was the shock-proofing and back-up and restore that impressed us most. Flip2Disk represents good value for money, is well built and supplied with good utilities.