IronKey Workspace W700 FIPS Review: Windows To Go on one tough, secure little key drive - wolfgodis1942

At a Glance

Expert's Rating

Pros

FIPS 140-2 level 3 valid
USB 3.0 and insane for Windows To Go
Remotely manageable victimisation the IronKey online console

Cons

Big-ticket
Runs quite hearty
No host check-in prison term boundary

Our Verdict

A remotely steerable, FIPS 140-2 level 3 valid USB flash drive that can run over Windows To Go more securely than whatever unusual currently available answer.

Looking to free yourself or your employees from the uncomfortable logistics of traveling with a laptop? Liked the looks of Windows to Kick the bucket, but wanted the peace of mind that hardware security brings? You need to break out the Imation IronKey W700 Workspace—a hardware-encrypted, FIPS 140-2 level-3 valid, USB 3.0 Windows to Perish thumb drive that can comprise managed remotely. It's the first of its breed and as secure a compute-along-any-Personal computer solution as you'll find. It's also expensive.

If you're not acquainted Windows To Go with, it's a feature of Windows 8.x Enterprise that allows the OS to absquatulate of a USB flash push. This allows you to function your own Windows work environment happening approximately any computing device, including Macs, Linux PCs, and computers that belong to other people. As long as you know there's a computer you can exercise at your destination, you rear go off with single what's in your pocket. Sweet.

imn ik workspace wtg silver overlay v2.0 — IronKey W700 comes in 32GB, 64GB and 128GB flavors.

The brushed metallic IronKey W700 Workspace has a respectable, solid feel in the hand down and the bag. So, its slightly weighty presence makes it fewer likely that you'll inadvertently run IT through the wash. Should you arrange so, the consequences are paltry: The force back is waterproof, in addition to beingness burnt against physical attack. The drive runs a tad warm, but that's the average with secure flash drives sporting extra encryption hardware.

The W700 Workspace comes in iii capacities: a $249/32GB reading that I tested, arsenic well as 64GB and 128GB flavors that cost $369 and $599, severally—sans Windows, which you need to provide on your own. That's high-priced, but remember you're transaction with a level-3 validated drive that's remotely manageable. Information technology also helps to call up that it's no longer high-ticket than a new laptop and has fewer joint costs.

Piece eminently secure, Windows on the W700 takes yearner to get up and running than a normal Windows To Fit drive, because information technology requires two boots: one to unlock the in operation system partition, and the second to boot into Windows.

In that respect is, however, a 500MB partition that is always visible under Windows Explorer which provides a bit of single-flush repositing, contains a usefulness to unlock the W700's operating system zone for the close boot, and also provides a utility that will change the BIOS so that it selects the W700 as the side by side boot media. Alas, the latter utility didn't work with my Gigabyte GA-Z77n-WLAN's BIOS. If that proves the caseful with your PC, you can always arouse the BIOS or a boot menu away pressing role keys immediately afterward turning on your computer (typically Del, F2, F8, F11, etc.).

Provisioning—instalmen Windows onto the bigger portion of the driveway—requires IronKey's freely downloadable Admin Unlocker utility, or licensing the company's Workspace provisioning tool. which will instal the OS along adequate to 14 drives simultaneously. I used the Admin unlocker, which simply renders the Windows portion of the beat back visible so you may install the OS. Banknote there's no "interlock" function within the utility—the OS partition wish re-put away itself the little you withdraw the drive from the USB larboard.

IT departments rolling out fleets of W700's will appreciate its distant manageableness. Using the online IronKey Remote management organisation ($24 per drive, per annum) you can kill the password, wipe the table of contents, inactivate the driving force, change user and admin policies, and log up its geographical location (via IP address, non Global Positioning System). Obviously, this wholly relies on the drive's power to contact the host.

Curiously, though other IronKey drives may be set to perform one of the above actions if there's no contact with the server after a set period, that isn't the case with the Workspace serial. In the case of theft, a strong password and the FIPS-obedient hardware are your defense. Imation told Maine if in that respect's demand, they'll expose this feature.

Also for sale from IronKey are the slightly little expensive, "lonesome"-level-2 validated W500, and the IronKey W300, which lacks hardware encoding altogether but is a significantly cheaper option if you're complacent to run Windows using only BitLocker, Oregon no security at all. At that place are ways to run plain Windows 8 and even Windows 7 from a first USB cleave, thought: See my revue of Aomei's Partition Assistant.

There's no more secure, operating theater more easy managed solution for flying Windows To Go than Imation's IronKey W700 Workspace. It's a unique product at the moment, and it's gruelling to conceive of any improvement upon information technology.

Source: https://www.pcworld.com/article/435788/ironkey-workspace-w700-fips-review-windows-to-go-on-sterner-stuff.html

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