Image MASSter Solo-4 IT hard drive Duplicator Review

What is ICS IQ Solo-4 IT?

The Image MASSter Solo-4 IT hard drive Duplicator allows the copying of one to up to three drives or two source drives to two target drives. Unit features SAS, SATA, IDE, USB and e-SATA support. Built-in 1 Gigabit Ethernet connection for uploading and downloading images to SAN. Supporting windows XP operating system.

♣ Manufacturer:  ICS IQ

♣ Price: USD2990 excluding shipping cost

Optional 1 Year Extended Warranty ($275.00)
Optional Hard Protective Case $250.00

♣ What kind of problems is ICS IQ Solo-4 IT able to handle?

* On the fly” Drive Image Encryption
* Drive Wiping: Supports single pass or full DoD Sanitization （optional）
* Uploads “Source” Images to Network Storage
* Preview Data directly on the unit: Preview active files on the “Source” Drive utilizing Windows XP file viewers.
* Capture data on DCO (Device Configuration Overlay) and (HPA) Host Protected Area:
* Multiple Hash Verifications: SHA-1, SHA-2, MD-5 of the ”Source” Hard Drive and DD Images

♣ Advantages:

* Preview active files allows to locate the useful data area
* With three verification methods assures the data integrity

♣ Disadvantages:

* just for good hard drives and bad sectors handling limited;
* doesn’t support SCSI and no hdd test function

♣ Upgrade and support:

One year warranty and free limited support,
it is not available whether the upgrade is charged or not.

♣ DataTools Review Ideas and Tips:

Though ICS IQ Solo-4 IT claimed 18GB/min transfer speed, it seems impossible to reach up to the speed with on-the-fly verification while without any deceleration; meanwhile when performing 1 to 3 or 2 to 2 data capture, the speed may be distributed to each data transfer port.  In all, it sounds a good tool for capturing data from those good hard drives but not the ones with bad sector or for unstable hard drives.