Other by stefan @ 2012-01-13
The new DataGuardian USB 3.0 Flash Drive from Super Talent gives us the possibility to protect the data stored on it by locking its entire filesystem with a password; the user interface that pops up when the drive is inserted is user friendly and we can re-enter the password two more times if we got it wrong the first time.
At first I would like to thank Super Talent for offering a sample of their USB 3.0 DataGuardian 32GB Flash Drive for testing and reviewing.
“Super Talent Technology Corporation, headquartered in San Jose, California, designs and manufactures a full range of DDR, DDR2, and DDR3 memory modules and Flash based storage solutions for Enterprise Servers, Workstations, Personal Computers and Consumer Electronics. An ISO 9001 certified company, Super Talent utilizes its state-of-the art factory and leading-edge components to produce award winning products with exceptional performance and outstanding reliability. Super Talent is an active member of JEDEC, ONFI and USB-IF standards bodies, and holds over 200 patents in Flash and DRAM technology.”
Perhaps the most balanced product we have ever made, the USB 3.0 DataGuardian off ers the optimum combination of Performance, Price, Security and Compatibility in a stylish aluminum enclosure. Password protected , USB 3.0 DataGuardian will keep your files secure in the event that you lose your drive. A true performer ,the USB 3.0 DataGuardian, offers impressive performance in both USB 3.0 and 2.0 ports. And you don't have to be an IT professional to use it. There's nothing to install; the USB 3.0 DataGuardian is ready to use on any PC, even without admin rights.
The DataGuardian USB 3.0 flash drive from Super Talent is shipped inside a simple cardboard enclosure, about the same as we could find with the ST4; this type of packaging allows us to see how the product does look before purchasing; on the frontal side we can also find written the main product highlights, along with the total capacity:
On the back of the packaging, we can also find a small product description, along with a screenshot of the DataGuardian software interface:
The DataGuardian preserves the same design lines as the ST4, but it’s also slightly smaller:
On the frontal side of the drive, we can find the name of the product, the interface it was designed for and the name of the manufacturer:
On the other side, we can observe the same aluminum finish, but with no inscriptions this time:
The bottom of the drive is made from semi-transparent red plastic and features a small hole to insert a lanyard:
The removal of the protective cap reveals the USB 3.0 connector, which has a laser inscription with the total drive capacity:
When in use, the DataGuardian activity LED lights up, which is colored in blue:
The testbench was composed from the following hardware:
CPU: Intel I7 Retail @ stock
Motherboard: Foxconn BloodRage with G42 BIOS
RAM: 3x2GB Patriot PVT36G1600LLK 1600MHz
Video: Sparkle GTX 470 with stock and OMNI A.L.C.
Power Supply: Nexus RX-8500 850W modular
HDD: Seagate Barracuda 500GB 7200.11 & Patriot TorqX 64GB SSD
Case: Thermaltake Armor+ LCS, stock cooling
OS: Windows 7 Ultimate x64
ASUS U3S6
The Super Talent USB 3.0 Express ST4 Flash Drive comes formatted FAT32:
The DataGuardian application is located on a read-only separate drive and is set to auto-load when the drive is inserted into a spare USB drive:
The DataGuardian application interface which pops up right after the drive is plugged in is really simple to use; initially, we are asked for a password to associate to the flash drive:
A confirmation of the newly inserted password is needed, for safety:
Next time the DataGuardian interface pops up, we can use it to type our current password for initiating the Lock or Unlock procedure of the rest of the filesystem; in case of a password error, we have two more tries left:
To determine the flash drive read speeds, in both Normal and Turbo modes, the HD Tune 4.60 utility was used:
To measure the real life performance, I have used the Total Commander application to copy to the flash drive and from the flash drive the same file and recorded the transfer speeds, when they have stabilized.
File Copy
File Read
The DataGuardian USB 3.0 Flash Drive from Super Talent maintains the same design lines as the ST4 but this time it is more compact. The main purpose of this product is security, so only people with the necessary credentials will have access to the data stored on the drive.
Being an USB 3.0 drive, performance is not left out; judging by the transfer speeds obtained in the performed tests, we can see that this drive positions in the middle of the pack, by providing both good read and write speeds.
The DataGuardian application is easy to use, does not really need a manual do get used to it and with it we can lock, unlock or change the current password. If the password is typed incorrectly, we get two more tries; in case we still do not succeed to unlock, we can always remove and insert the drive for additional retries. On the Super Talent website we can also download a utility that will bring the drive to factory defaults, but with this operation we will also lose all data stored on it. The product also comes with protection against the well-known Autorun malware, which is present on a lot of drives nowadays.
The DataGuardian is available in 8, 16 and 32GB formats and the tested model can be picked up in US for about $71. As soon as the prices will be available for Europe, the article will be updated.
I would like to thank again to Super Talent for making this review possible!