Fast and Secure

Speed Test: 145x read, 80x write
In this fast paced world, speed is everything. So the first thing I checked when I received this device is to test its speed. I have run the speed test on a USB 2.0 port on a dual processor IBM. The software used was SiSoft Sandra 2005 (Standard). The test result shows on large files (where the speed is the highest), the read speed was 21845 kB/sec, and write speed was 12015 kB/sec. Consider 1x speed as 150 kB/sec, this device has a read speed of 145x, and write speed of 80x. The read speed is pretty close to the claimed 160x. The discrepancy could be the USB interface, not the USB drive itself.

If you want to reproduce the result please note that Sandra reports speed in a different unit. They use 176 kB/sec as 1x. So the x-rating reported is lower. The exact reason why Sandra is using that non-standard 1x unit is still not clear to me.

This speed is quite impressive. Most other USB drives are not as fast. This speed means that the drive can be filled in less than a minute (43 seconds, to be exact). Reading is even faster. Of course, you will need a USB 2.0 port to enjoy this speed. At 80MB/sec (theoretical speed limit), this port is much faster than its predecessor USB 1.1 (at 1.5 MB/sec). To make sure that you are using a USB 2.0 port, see next section.

Red or Blue: Undocumented Feature
This USB device has an undocumented feature. Basically, the light on the drive not only tells you whether the device is in use, it also tells you what kind of USB port you have. If the light is red, you know you have a slow speed USB 1.1 port. If it is blue, you can put a smile on your face since this indicates a blazing fast USB 2.0 port.

Security: How It Works?
The most important feature, the one that sets this product apart from the others, is the security feature. Kingston claims that the secure portion of the data is protected with two layers, both hardware encryption and access control, and therefore is “virtually impenetrable”. The encryption used was the 128-bit AES (Advanced Encryption Standard). This encryption algorithm is quite complicated, and if handled with software, will slow down the data transfer rate. The Kingston DataTravler Elite uses a dedicated coprocessor to handle the encryption. Therefore no data transfer rate was compromised.

To use the security feature, you will need to run the TravelSafe+ software. Note that the software can run alone. There is no need to run the optional MyTraveler software.

The very first time you run the TravelSafe+ software, it will ask you to create a “Privacy Zone”. Basically, it is a partition on the drive that can only be accessed with a password. Remember that before entering the password, you can access the “Public Zone” only. After entering the password, you can access “Private Zone” only. You cannot access both zones at the same time. A copy of the Safe+ software will be copied to the Public Zone. Make sure you don’t delete it.

To access the Private Zone, you just click on the Safe+ software and enter the password. When you are done with the Private Zone, log out by double clicking the shortcut in the Private Zone (don’t delete that shortcut, either!).

There is another security measure. If you type the password wrong 20 times in a roll, the data will be completely lost! This is to prevent people from using a machine to crack your password.

Installation and Documentation
To use the drive on Windows ME/2000/XP computers, you don’t need to install any software. Windows 98 computers need a driver. I have not tested Win98 driver myself, but I would imagine it will be easy. Windows NT remains to be USB-unfriendly.

If you want to use the Kingston software to manage the drive, you can run the software (MyTraveler) available on the drive itself. The interface is pretty nice, but again, since I can get away without using it, I choose not to install this software.

If you want to use the security software, you just run the TravelSafe+ software, also on available on the drive. See section above for how to use the software. It is really straightforward.

Documentation of both software pieces are also available on the drive itself. The paper document in the package is simply warranty information in 8 different languages. That piece of paper is completely useless. I would suggest Kingston to include something useful (like a beginners guide) in paper form, and put this useless warranty document in electronic form, either on the drive, or for download.

My Little Complain on the Security Feature
The security feature of this USB drive works fine except one thing. In order to run the security software to access your private data, you need to be the system administrator. I personally think this is a big flaw. Data security is usually part of the corporate world. However, in big corporations, the IT guys are usually reluctant to give you local-admin privilege. That means you cannot use the security software!

Kingston has a partial solution to this question. From their website you can download a piece of software called “noadmin” to install on your computer. However, in order to install that software, you need to have administrator privilege again! This basically means that you cannot access your secure information on someone else’s computer, which could be a good practice anyway. So I usually create just a small Privacy Zone to store the really secret files. For files like presentations, I will store them in the Public Zone.