Introduction

StarTech.com is a retailer that specialises in hard-to-find niche computing and electronics items built for businesses, but today we’ll be looking at an item of interest to any gamer or media consumer. It’s called the InfoSafe, and it’s an unusual proposition – a kind of high end hard drive enclosure that supports two 2.5″ SATA drives. As well as the dual layout, there is support for a number of configurations and advanced connectivity options. Let’s have a look at whether this premium enclosure is worth the extra dosh.

Technical Specifications

• Warranty: Two years
• Interface: USB 2.0 (480 Mb/s) & eSATA (3 Gb/s)
• Number of Drives: 2
• Drive Type: SATA
• Drive Installation: Removable
• Fan(s): No
• Chipset ID: Silicon Image – Sil5744
• Supported RAID Modes: BIG, JBOD, RAID 0, RAID 1
• Max Capacity: 2 TB (2 x 1 TB)
• Enclosure Type: Steel and Plastic
• Max Drive Height: 9.5 mm
• Dimensions: 153 mm x 101 mm x 25.5 mm
• Weight: 224 g

Packaging

The InfoSafe comes in a plain white box, unadorned on all sides but one. This one side has a nice picture of the drive, as well as the full name of the product (which is “2.5in Removable eSATA USB Dual SATA Hard Drive Enclosure with RAID”, so you can see why I’m just calling it the “InfoSafe”). There are also four listed features: Support for SATA I / II drives, lockable drive doors for added security, insertion rating of more than 15k and independent swinging and latching doors.

The bundle is quite substancial, with every cable you’d need to get the enclosure working. There is an AC adapter with a choice of three lock-in heads (EU, UK, US), a USB cable and an eSATA cable.

There are also two keys included, which allow you to lock the drive doors. How this prevents you from just walking off with the enclosure is unknown.

There is also an instructional manual.

Finally, there is a small plastic stand which allows you to mount the enclosure on its side.