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Here we are yet to take a look at another business grade storage solution. Its not tough to come up with a usable storage for a project but it is important to keep all of your work files in one place. Having a small NAS or DAS near by would be a perfect solution. Either way you are looking to spend at least 400$ for a storage system. If you are looking for smaller solutions, this unit might be just right for you. Today we are going to be taking a look at Seagate's BlackArmor WS 110. BlackArmor WS 110 is a business grade storage solution for your every day needs. Some of the work environment where you may find this device is in Marketing and IT departments. Providing a massive storage of 1 TB BlackArmor WS 110 becomes a valuable part of equipment on your table. Let's take a closer look at BlackArmor WS 110 and see what else it has to offer.

Secure storage plugged right into your system

An external drive that instantly fits in with your business.

Fast transfer rates with eSATA and USB 2.0
Uses the same software as other BlackArmor products so it’s easy to install and manage
SafetyDrill+™ recovery software is ready for bare metal restore
Available in 1TB and 2TB capacities

Backed up, encrypted, and safe.

Your files are thoroughly protected with business–grade storage.

Automatic backup for your PC—both incremental and full–system
Even open files are backed up for greater protection
Data is secured with file– and folder– level encryptio

Everything you expect for your business.

You need to focus on your business, not on your technology.

Built with a reliable Seagate hard drive
Supports Windows XP, Windows Vista.
Five–year limited warranty
Lay it flat or on its side to suit your workspace

Now that we got basic information out of the way, lets take a closer look at BlackArmor WS 110.

The whole package weights about 4 pounds. This was surprising as this unit is rather small never the less we expected it to have some great packaging. BlackArmor is a business oriented brand and it differs by having a completely different packaging design. What I would like to bring out is the passive color schema of this unit. Seagate utilizes light blue and black schema to bring out the details of BlackArmor WS 110. On the both sides of the packaging we found a great deal of details of BlackArmor WS 110 which really helps when looking for the right information on the item.

BlackArmor WS 110 comes with a whooping 5 year limited warranty. If you have any issues with the hard drive with in 5 years, you could rma the broken unit and receive a replacement in a matter of days. Unfortunately your data will not be recovered. We also found a list of requirements and performance/specifications of BlackArmor WS 110 on one sides of the package.

There really isn't much to the way BlackArmor WS 110 is packaged. Just a cardboard shell to hold the unit in place and a box of accessories. BlackArmor WS 110 comes with power adapter, USB 2.0 Cable, rubber stickers to hold the unit in the place and a stand. What threw me off is that BlackArmor WS 110 doesn't come with eSATA cable. This is not the first product from Seagate which is capable of eSATA connection but doesn't come with a cable.

The actual unit looks like it is made of a hard ABS plastic. ABS plastic is very light in weight and also is very duarable. There really aren't any markings on this unit with the exception of the Seagate logo in the front. As later on in the review we found out glows light blue on access. On one side of the BlackArmor WS 110 we found four slots for rubber feet. You can have this unit either in the up right position or laying down position.

While looking at the whole unit in general, I couldn't help myself wondering where does the heat from the hard drive escapes. I have not found a single hole which could be used as a way to cool the internal components. On the back of the BlackArmor WS 110 we found power connector, eSATA connector and USB 2.0 connector. What would be a great revision for this unit is an ability to use USB 3.0 with this drive.

Installation and set up of BlackArmor WS 110 literally takes minutes and is very easy to use. Lets take a closer look at the test benchmarks of this unit.

With BlackArmor WS 110 we have performed two benchmarks HD Tach and HD Tune Pro with USB 2.0 and eSATA connections. Please note that these values could change depending on the system and performance usage of this drive on other machines.

Our first benchmark was ran with HD Tach in USB 2.0 mode. In this benchmark we have gotten an average read speed of 32.5 MB/s with average burst speed of 33.4 MB/s and 15.6 ms of random access time. This is pretty much the extend of the USB 2.0 speed. You would not get any faster speeds that this with USB 2.0

We have repeated this benchmark with HD Tune Pro. We have gotten an average read speed of 29.8 MB/s with average burst rate speed of 30.1 MB/s and 15.8 ms of random access time. Don't expect to get anywhere too fast with this connection.

Our second set of benchmarks was done in eSATA mode. Here are the results. In the HD Tach benchmark we have gotten an average read speed of 104.1 MB/s with average burst speed of 160.5 MB/s and 15.2 ms of random access time. You can clearly see the improvement in the transfer speed with eSATA connection.

Our last benchmark was done with HD Tune Pro in eSATA mode. We have gotten a very close results. An average read speed of 99.8 MB/s with average burst speed of 112.6 MB/s and 15.2 ms of random access time were achieved.

If you looking for some cheap, long term storage then BlackArmor WS 110 could be for you. With a great 5 year limited warranty BlackArmor WS 110 doesn't leave any other thoughts. The only thing that we found odd is that this unit doesn't come with eSATA cable but has the connection on the back for it. I don't think it is a packaging and shipping mistake either. We have seen other units from Seagate which also didn't had eSATA cables but had the connections for it. Besides providing just the storage solution in the business, BlackArmor WS 110 offers a true level of encryption of files on the disk as well as a scheduled back up system which comes really handy when you forget to back up your work. All that for about 130$ doesn't seem so bad, plus for a business setting, that only pennies on the dollar. Over all performance of this unit could be a bit better as far as USB connection goes. I can see now a USB 3.0 revision of this unit in the near future. It gives me a great pleasure to award Seagate BlackArmor WS 110 with highest UMLan Inc rank 10/10! Great, simple and smart product.