As photographers, we spend a lot of time planning, shooting, editing, and storing all of our photographs. One of the hidden challenges for most working and amateur photographers is protecting their data. Some people don’t realize the importance of keeping their data is secure until it’s too late.
It seems obvious, but making sure your hard-earned files are safe and backed up can be quite a challenge. Hard drives can fail at any time and rescuing data from a failed or damaged hard drive can be expensive at best, and impossible at worst. All electronics are susceptible to damage from water, shock, impact, etc. The best way to protect your data is to protect your storage device!
That is where rugged all-weather drives come in. G-Tech’s All-Terrain Case or ATC hard drive enclosures are designed to be shock resistant up to 2 meters (about 10 feet) and can be submerged in up to 1 foot of water for at least 30 seconds. That means when you accidentally drop your hard drive in a mud puddle when pulling it out of your bag, you are all good.
The G-Drive ev ATC has what is known as an IP66 rating, or Ingress Protection Marking. Essentially, the IP rating is designed to test and rate claims of water resistance or dust intrusion into a particular enclosure.
A rating of 6 in the first number of IP66 means that this case is Dust Tight according to the rating system on Wikipedia:
| 6 | Dust tight | No ingress of dust; complete protection against contact (dust tight). A vacuum must be applied. Test duration of up to 8 hours based on air flow. |
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The second number represents the ability of the case to resist the harmful ingress of water. In other words, it tests how water-resistant this case really is. G-Tech specifies that this case floats and can be in up to a foot of water for 30 seconds with no damage, whatsoever. It seems like you could probably get away with more serious exposure to the elements and stay protected according to the IP Rating. A rating of 6 for the second number means that this case resists water ingress at the level of Powerful Water Jets:
| 6 | Powerful water jets | Water projected in powerful jets (12.5 mm nozzle) against the enclosure from any direction shall have no harmful effects. | Test duration: at least 3 minutes Water volume: 100 litres per minute Pressure: 100 kPa at distance of 3 m |
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“Without a doubt, anyone looking to keep their images safe and secure should pick up the G-Drive ev ATC drive. The price is right and the protection is as good as it gets,” says Jake, Midwest’s resident G-Tech expert. “I don’t ever have to worry about my data when I’m out in the field or bringing a hard drive to a client. I know that if I spill my drink on my hard drive as I knock it off the table, I’m still good.”
Jake also mentioned that the fact that this drive is part of th EV or Evolution series that G-Tech designed to be both fast and flexible. “The Evolution docks allow you to take your G-Drive out of the ATC case and plug it right into the dock as a hot-swappable drive,” says Jake. “For high-data workflows, like 4K video, this is the way to go, for sure.”
All G-Tech drives are fast and flexible, and designed to protect. If you are a Mac user, then the G-Technology 1TB G-DRIVE ev ATC with Thunderbolt drive is for you, but there is also a USB 3.0 version that is just as speedy, with a lower price. These drives work for the Mac and PC with no problem and all G-Tech’s drives come with a Three Year Limited Warranty. For anyone that needs their data on the go, this is the smartest way to protect your images from the accidents and tragedies that can befall more sensitive drives.
Stop into the shop to check them out for yourself. And tell Jake I sent you.
