Buffalo Americas, a leading provider of external storage, network attached storage (NAS) and networking solutions, today announced availability of its new MiniStation Extreme NFC portable hard drive. Buffalo’s ruggedized drive features advanced hardware encryption and near field communication (NFC) technology to block unauthorized access. It also adheres to U.S. Military Standard shock protection and is safeguarded against water and dust damage.
“When examining the rugged portable drive market, many of our competitors focus on being the best at a single metric of device protection while sacrificing other data security capabilities,” said Matt Dargis, COO, Buffalo Americas, Inc. “We designed the MiniStation Extreme NFC to be the most complete rugged portable drive on the market, including features that not only protect against the elements, but also support the latest hardware encryption technology and NFC secure access functionality. We packaged all of this functionality into a sleek, compact design that sets it apart from the competition.”
Built-in NFC technology allows users to easily unlock files using the included smart card without having to remember a password. This capability also protects valuable data from being accessed by an unauthorized user. Users can securely ship information by sending the hard drive and smart card separately, ensuring the data is protected even if the hard drive is lost or stolen.
Legal, financial and healthcare-related companies can manage and distribute files without risk of exposing private information to unauthorized users. Movie studios, music producers and photographers can easily distribute encrypted content without the risk of the original work being stolen and pirated.
The MiniStation Extreme NFC sports top-of-the-line protection standards for operation in harsh environments, such as the outdoors or the cargo hold of a plane. Its ruggedized chassis and specialized internal bumpers follow the U.S. Military Standard for shock defense. When accidentally bumped or dropped from up to 1.2 meters, the MiniStation Extreme NFC absorbs and transfers the resulting shock away from the hard drive, safeguarding the stored data. Moreover, it adheres to the IPX3 standard for resistance against water and the IP5X standard for protection against dust, protecting data on the device under any conditions.
An integrated flex connect USB cable neatly wraps around the chassis to ensure it will never be misplaced or lost. With support for SuperSpeed USB 3.0 interface, the MiniStation Extreme NFC can reach speeds up to 5 Gbps. It is also fully backward compatible with USB 2.0, enabling users to simply plug the device into a legacy USB port on their computer to instantly add capacity or store files to take on the road. The preformatted hard drive requires no driver or software installation and is ready for immediate use.
Pricing and Availability
The MiniStation Extreme NFC contains a limited three-year warranty including toll-free 24/7 U.S.-based technical support. The MiniStation Extreme NFC portable hard drive is available now at an MSRP of $129.99 for the 1 TB model (HD-PZN1.0U3B) and $199.99 for the 2 TB model (HD-PZN2.0U3B).