I'm ready to drop some $$$$$ on the unit with the 4T of memory and thought I would make certain before I purchased it. Anyone using this unit? Give me your thoughts!
Jerry - I've never used one, but have read several reviews that went from good to great (including a few nature photographers that are using them).
Posted by Jesse Speer on July 28, 2008 at 11:07 AM
I've been using one for about a year. It sits behind my monitor, and I forget it's even there. It just works. And I love the fact that I can just shove in an inexpensive drive when I max my current storage. The complete automation is nice. The USB interface is somewhat slow (when working on big master files), but it appears they now have a firewire 800 version. I'd go for that one.
It seems expensive for the performance you get. You can configure a PC with a raid controller, a stack of hot-swappable drives for RAID level 5 with parity, and connect the computers with gigabit ethernet. your array would be rated at 70 mb/sec, substantially better than the <20 mb/sec rate of the Drobo. Implement a copy of syncback software, and you could set up a solution that is not always online - so that if you get hit by a virus or trojan, your data is still safe, unless you choose to sync the data before checking it. The cost of such a setup could be comparable to the Drobo, and offer better performance and data security. Just a thought.
Looks like a very nice unit. However, I didn't see any mention of cooling on their web-site. Does anyone know what kind of cooling system is available on the box (i.e. fans, fins, etc.)? Without adequate cooling I'd be vary of purchasing a system that handles high capacity drives in such a small package.
I had that same question and I'm going to call them before I buy one. I'll post what they tell me.
Gene,
I have a RAID 0+1 array built into my retired desktop so I'm mostly up on the RAID issues. As for hot swapable drives that rebuild themselves, I don't know of any RAID system that does that. RAIDs are great but all I've looked at are difficult to deal with when problems arise. Also, to build one like the Drobo, the box alone is usually in the $1,000 range then you have to buy the HDD's.
BTW, I'm not looking for a fultime running external HDD that performs like an enternal. I want a backup system that is used as a backup system. I'll use the Drobo (if I decide to get it) as just that. If I need another HDD I'll use an eSATA HDD in a cooled Antec enclosure. With eSATA you get the speed of an internal. Speed that is many time faster than firewire or USB 2.0.
Posted by Jerry Greer on July 29, 2008 at 11:09 AM
Guys and Gals,
The Drobo system is cooled by an internal fan system. It looks like it's set up kind of like the Antec enclosures. This is great news! I'm ordering mine today! Also, the new units are built with the WD "GreenPower" HDD's, they use much less power than standard HDD's. For me, this is a very big deal!
Discussion
7 replieshttp://www.drobo.com/Products/drobo.html
Thanks!
I have used the Drobo for data backups and really like it. For the price it is well worth it.
-Susan
Thanks.
I had that same question and I'm going to call them before I buy one. I'll post what they tell me.
Gene,
I have a RAID 0+1 array built into my retired desktop so I'm mostly up on the RAID issues. As for hot swapable drives that rebuild themselves, I don't know of any RAID system that does that. RAIDs are great but all I've looked at are difficult to deal with when problems arise. Also, to build one like the Drobo, the box alone is usually in the $1,000 range then you have to buy the HDD's.
BTW, I'm not looking for a fultime running external HDD that performs like an enternal. I want a backup system that is used as a backup system. I'll use the Drobo (if I decide to get it) as just that. If I need another HDD I'll use an eSATA HDD in a cooled Antec enclosure. With eSATA you get the speed of an internal. Speed that is many time faster than firewire or USB 2.0.
The Drobo system is cooled by an internal fan system. It looks like it's set up kind of like the Antec enclosures. This is great news! I'm ordering mine today! Also, the new units are built with the WD "GreenPower" HDD's, they use much less power than standard HDD's. For me, this is a very big deal!