A portable SSD storage device with Raid 6, active internal cooling and display? Coming soon!

This is anything but commonplace: a portable SSD storage device with eight terabytes of capacity, Raid 6 functionality, encryption, internal cooling, an e-paper display and Bluetooth tracking. The manufacturer Iodyne from California will be launching one of these on the market in the first quarter of next year. The company manufactures storage solutions for professional applications and the Pro Mini mentioned here is also aimed at "creative professionals". On its website, the manufacturer states that it has provided storage solutions for film and series productions such as "The Acolyte" or "Deadpool and Wolverine".

Iodyne also has high-calibre video productions in mind for the Pro Mini. The small disc should be able to store up to 36 hours of 4K video material. Thanks to USB-4 and Thunderbolt, the transfer should be really fast: The manufacturer claims more than three gigabytes per second.

To prevent the small SSD drive from getting too hot, solid-state cooling is on board, i.e. an active cooling technology that works without moving parts. It uses rapidly vibrating membranes that create an airflow. This sucks in hot air and expels it on the other side. One such cooling chip from the manufacturer Frore Systems has a surface area of just a few square centimetres and is less than three millimetres thick.

The Fort Knox of portable SSD storage

If you lose the storage, you should be able to find it again via Bluetooth using "Find My Tracking". The service can be connected to Apple's and Google's Find networks so that you can let your smartphone guide you to the device, provided it has a Bluetooth connection. The Pro Mini also has a small battery in an aluminium housing.

The data on the memory is protected by an identifier. The protection does not consist of a PIN or password that you enter, but a numerical code that is stored on trusted devices. This is to ensure that only devices that have the passkey identifier can access the data. You can also share the data via NFC using your smartphone.

The data itself is also encrypted. The Pro Mini uses the XTS-AES-256 encryption standard, which is considered secure. If individual areas of the storage fail, RAID-6 uses redundant data storage to ensure that lost data can often be recovered.

Finally, the Pro Mini is compatible with Iodyne cloud services, which enables Fleet Management, for example. This allows the storage to be monitored and maintained remotely.

My secret highlight: an e-paper label

Instead of a sticker on the underside, the device is equipped with a small e-paper display. Various information can be displayed there, for example project names, camera numbers, contact information, logos or codes. Because e-paper displays do not require any energy to show the information, they last for years.

Curious now? The Pro Mini should be ready for the market in the first quarter of 2025. According to the magazine The Verge, the small version with four terabytes will cost 1495 US dollars, while the large version with eight terabytes will cost 2195 US dollars. <p