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n-Tegrity Classic 1GB Conclusion
Submitted by jwhitakr on Mon, 07/14/2008 - 20:45.
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Performance
To test the performance of the n-Tegrity drive, I used the HD Tach benchmark program as well as HD Tune. These tests will give a clear view of the overall speed of the USB flash drive.
Testing was performed with the following system:
- Motherboard: ECS KN1 SLI Lite
- CPU: AMD Athlon X2 3800+ Dual-Core
- Memory: 2GB Corsair TWINX (2x1GB) RAM
- CPU Heatsink: Spire VertiCool IV
- Video card: EVGA 7900GT with 93.71 driver version
- Hard drive: Western Digital 250GB SATA2 16MB cache
- Optical drive: NEC 8X DVD-R DVD burner
- Power supply: Ultra XVS 700W
Up first is the set of results from HD Tach:
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Finally, the results of the second set of tests with no other programs running in the background:
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With read speeds averaging 16.1 MB/sec and write speeds averaging 14.1 MB/sec, the n-Tegrity drive is well behind the competition in terms of speed. The poor performance is really the most disappointing characteristic of the drive. This is definitely one case where you are forced to choose between security features and performance - you just do not get both in the same package with the n-Tegrity drive.
Other Software and Considerations
n addition to the N-Pass security software that is installed as part of the standard suite of tools, there is also a few other programs that come pre-installed:
- My Internet Explorer
- Miranda IM
- Portable Skype
This makes it very useful in terms of keeping your personal contacts secure and private for instant messaging and even voice-dialing. The portable Thunderbird also allows you to securely browse the web from any computer, and never have to worry about leaving a trace of your browsing history on the computer you are using. From a security perspective, these are great features and definitely a plus for the value of this USB drive.
However, the same usefulness also becomes a hindrance when you take into account the performance of the drive. One of the biggest complaints I had was the slow boot-up time. It takes at least 10 seconds for the drive to be available to use after you have completed the fingerprint and password verification. A few times I became impatient, and as soon as the fingerprint scanning dialog popped up I immediately swiped my finger. In these cases, the software was not quite ready to accept the scan and I had to re-swipe. There were even a few times where I could not get the scanner to recognize that I was swiping my finger at all, and I had to eject the drive and start all over. Add the few seconds that it takes for Windows to recognize the drive after it is connected to a USB port, and for the fingerprint scanning prompt to be displayed, and the load-up time really seems to drag on forever.
I also found that the running through the typical tasks of web browsing and sending IM’s were much slower when using the n-Tegrity drive. No doubt this is due to the read/writes to and from the drive that are running in the background. But I found this to be a definite low point in my testing. For some users, it may be an acceptable trade-off to suffer through slow load times and slow performance for the extra security measures that are provided, but it is not something I would be able to live with for day-to-day use of the drive.
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n-Tegrity 1GB Classic
The n-Tegrity really excels at its core purpose of providing a secure, portable solution for storing and accessing data. The biometric fingerprint scanner and RSA-2048 level key-pair generation provide an extremely robust level of security. The additional N-Pass, browser, IM and voice phone call software makes the n-Tegrity drive even more useful than typical secure data solutions.
The biggest sticking point in my mind is the meager performance of the drive. I really cannot recommend that a regular USB flash drive user is subjected to such slow load times and performance when running applications from the drive. With the speed of CPUs, hard drives, graphics cards and high-speed Internet connections – there is really a drop-off when you use the n-Tegrity that makes it the slowest link in the chain. Unfortunately, it is also not yet available in any US stores online.
Pros: Excellent security features, an abundance of encryption and customization options, useful software comes pre-installed.
Cons: Poor performance, not yet available in the U.S.
Rating: 3.0 out of 5
