It looks like any USB data storage stick, albeit a little chunkier -- but looks can be deceptive. This one includes what Microsoft calls "Windows To Go", a portable, bootable version of Windows 8, which you can set up on any laptop or PC anywhere and convert it into a secure platform for doing your own work. You can use the Kingston Data Traveler Workspace, with your own laptop -- or with any public PC -- and it boots the system with Windows 8 and creates your own corporate workspace: files are stored and retrieved only in the drive and not on the attached PC.
The advantages are obvious, if you travel a lot and need to work in full security on public PCs, hotel PCs and the like, or even if your employer encourages you to "Bring Your Own Device" -- the new trend where you have the freedom to carry your personal PC or tablet to your workplace.
You need to boot up a PC or laptop where ever you find one -- and stick the Data Traveler Workspace into it. You then boot the PC from the Workspace stick, overriding its installed operating system. Of course, there are some minimum requirements: the platform must have a processor that is 1 GHz or faster, come with 2 GB of RAM for a 64 bit system or 1 GB for a 32 bit system and must support DirectX 9 graphics -- this means pretty much any PC that already runs Windows 7 or 8 is fine. The beauty is, that the USB stick even works on a Linux PC so long as the hardware requirements are met.
One nice touch is that It freezes the data safely if you happen to accidentally disconnect the drive from the system, giving your 60 seconds to plug it back again!
This is a USB 3.0 drive and obviously it works best if connected to platform that has a USB 3 port. But t will work even with USB 2.0 devices, though a bit slower than its rated 250 MBPS read/ write speed.
The Data Traveler comes in three sizes: It comes in three sizes -- 32 GB, 64GB, and 128 GB. The best prices I could find online were : Rs 5800, Rs 9000 and Rs 15000 respectively.
I must warn you that there is a small price to pay for carrying your office OS with you: the Windows To Go version of Windows 8 occupies about 20 GB -- so if you go in for the 32 GB version, you will have hardly 10 GB of free space left in which to carry and save all your files. If I were to use one of these sticks, I would go for a higher capacity and also store my preferred Office suite on the stick -- so that I can open all my files -- word, spreadsheet or presentation -- even if my 'guest' PC doesn't have these tools installed.
Gigabyte for gigabyte, this Kingston device will seem pricey compared to plain USB thumb drives of similar capacity -- but that is not a fair comparison: The Data Traveler Workspace is your own home-office on the hoof, which just happens to look and feel like a vanilla USB stick. Don't be fooled by the camouflage, there's a cool tool inside!
—IndiaTechOnline
