If you talk to a hundred video or photography professionals every single one will say the same thing: never trust your precious images/videos on the cards you shot them on. Get them off as soon as you can. Doing otherwise just invites Mr. Murphy to your photo/video shoot… and when Murphy shows up that ‘perfect’ shot will be the one to disappear. This is why some form of On Set Storage is in nearly every single professional’s equipment bag. The downside is to get the precious data off SD/QXD/etc. card as soon as possible requires a couple more pieces of equipment. Namely a card reader and a laptop. Considering how much is in the typical pro’s bag already finding room for even more stuff is never easy. It sometimes means leaving a lens or three at home. LaCie obviously took feedback they received from industry professionals seriously and has created a solution for this rather niche problem: the $629(USD) LaCie Rugged BOSS SSD 1TB.
BOSS stands for Backup On Set Solution… which is a touch kludgey turn of phrase but does get the point across. This one device is meant to be an all in one solution for on site (aka ‘on set’) backing up of a professional’s pictures, videos… and anything else on their cards. Furthermore, it promises to all this without the need of any other electronics device.
The Rugged BOSS SSD is able to promise to do all this because it not only comes with 1TB of internal storage (in a fairly ‘rugged’ rubber enclosure) but also comes with a System on a Chip ‘computer’, an integrated LCD, am integrated USB hub and compatibility with everything from USB 2 to Thunderbolt 3 enabled devices. As it is basically an uber portable computer system it should come as no surprise that, unlike typical USB storage devices, the Rugged BOSS SSD has a built in battery and requires no external power source while on the set (or at least as long as the 5300mAh battery lasts that is).
If all this does not sound like a great idea, and allow you to stop futzing with that homebrewed Raspberry Pi based BOSS type device you have been working for way too long already…. you probably are not the right person for this specific model. This is a model designed by professionals for professionals. This is not the typical mass produced, mass appeal model. That certainly makes it rather unique these days but do not be surprised if after reading more about it that it is not your cup of tea. Of course, the opposite may be true too. You may find yourself loving all the detail and TLC that went into this model. In either case, with that caveat taken care of let’s see what makes a BOSS… a LaCie BOSS.
