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Setup:
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The hardware part of the setup is very simple and the User Manual provides good instructions. First, remove the top cover. Then install an appropriate 3.5" hard drive by connecting the IDE cable and Molex plug into the hard drive. Lay the drive down into the enclosure. Finally, reinstall the top cover; rotate the four rubber caps on the side and secure the four included mounting screws.
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Because of security feature of the Dorri, the software part of the setup is not as simple as just turning the unit on and installing the drivers. If the hard drive is used, not new; thus, has data stored on it, transfer it to another hard drive or storage medium before installing it into the Dorri. When the hard drive is properly installed into the enclosure, plug in the power, USB, and S-Key.
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For Windows 98 and MAC users, install the drivers on the driver CD before turning on the Dorri. After the drivers are all installed, turn on the Dorri by pressing the power button on the front. The computer will detect the removable storage drive but no drive will show up. The drive will now need to be partitioned and formatted. For Windows 98 and ME, go into DOS mode and use "FDisk" and/or "Format". For Windows 2000 and XP users, use the "Disk Management" from the MMC console. For MAC users, use whatever you use to partition and format drives.
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Once the drive is partitioned and formatted, it can now be used just like any other external hard drive as long as an S-Key is attached when turning on the Dorri. When an S-Key is not attached, the S-Key error LED next to the S-Key port will light red and the drive will not be detected by the OS. I found that if I remove the key after the Dorri turns on and the OS detects the drive, the drive is still operational.
Performance:
The features list claims that the drive is as secure as an un-formatted drive when not activated by the S-Key. When I plugged a Dorri formatted drive internally into the computer, the drive showed up as un-partitioned and unformatted.
The test hard drive used is a Maxtor 20GB 5400rpm 512kb cache (no joke). Since the Dorri cannot be used without the security function, I could not do a performance test of the drive with and without the security partition. However, I still ran Sandra's File System Benchmark on the encrypted drive and compared the result to the drive directly connected to the computer. The results were:
The test drive is naturally slow (mainly due to the 512kb cache) and using it in the Dorri only slowed it down a minimal 429kb/s.
As mentioned earlier, the Dorri features an 80mm exhaust fan for cooling. This fan operates at 1500 RPM with a noise level of 19dBA, which is silent. A simple temperature test was done by attaching a temperature probe onto the hard drive's main chip on the bottom. The temperatures are measured in Celsius. The results were:
The fan did a decent job cooling the hard drive knocking off 2 degrees for idle and 2.5 degrees for load. The front power LED doubles as a HD LED; when data is being transferred, it will flash.
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Conclusion:
There are numerous reasons for turning a 3.5" hard drive into an external hard drive. The most popular and obvious reason is the ability to easily use the drive with different computers. Another reason is the drive can be turned on and off independent from the computer; extending the life of the drive by turning it off when not in use. The Dorri adds to these reasons by including a cooling fan to cool the drive, further extending the drive's life. The Dorri's main draw is security with the data stored on the installed drive, totally inaccessible without one of the two S-Keys in place. For any one looking for a hardware based way to secure their precious data and/or turning an internal hard drive into an external one, the Dorri is a "safe" choice.
Pros:
Cons:
Ratings:
| Overall: | Very Good |
| Esthetics: | Very Good |
| Performance: | Very Good |
| Setup: | Good |
| Price: | Good |
(Ratings Possible Terrible, Very Bad, Bad, Fair, Good, Very Good, Excellent)
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