Fabrik Offers Environmentally Friendly Hard Drives

Tag : Heat And Cool
Fabrik has introduced what it claims is the world's mostenvironmentally friendly, energy -efficient USB hard drive, called SimpleTech [re]drive.
The San Mateo, Calif.-based Fabrik said Monday that its externaldrive with fast "Turbo USB 2.0" port can transfer data 25 percentfaster than products with a standard USB 2.0 port. The drive, forMac or PC, comes with the company's automated backup software andis available in sizes of 250GB, 320GB and 500GB.
Fabrik said its drive uses up to 90 percent less power than competitors, which means a yearly drop of nearly 475 poundsof carbon-dioxide emissions, equal to taking 300,000 cars off theroad for one year.
Enclosed with Bamboo
Backing up its eco-friendly claim, the SimpleTech is enclosed withbamboo, one of the earth's most durable natural resources, andrecycled aluminum. To avoid transporting the bamboo over longdistances, Fabrik has the bamboo grown near its manufacturingfacility. A thick aluminum casing is used for durability and savesenergy by acting as a heat sink to cool the drive without a fan.
The SimpleTech comes with an Energy Star-labeled power adapter anduses as little packaging as possible. The setup guide is printed onthe inside of the box, the backup software and a user guide areinstalled on the drive, and all the packaging is recyclable.
For disaster recovery, the backup software automatically savescopies of files on both the drive and on Fabrik's encryptedservers. Virus protection is included for PC users to avoidtransferring any infected files during backups.
Online Backups
The drive has a one-time setup process that allows users to decidewhich folders and files to save and when. The drive comes with 2GBof free online backup space, or for $5 a month, users can getunlimited backup capacity.
The 500GB drive lists for $160 and is available both online and inretail stores.
As an advocate for the environment, Fabrik says all its productsadhere to the Waste Electric and Electronic Equipment and theRestrictions of Hazardous Substances standards.
Mike Kent contributed to this story.