Drobo Review

February 24, 2008 - 10:40pm

What Is The Drobo? The drobo is a little box you add hard drives to in order to create a huge pool of protected storage for your data. If you have a lot of data you might need an external drive. If you have a ton of data you might need three or four or five external drives! And if that data is important to you, you’ll want to back it up. You can see where I’m going here.

The drobo can hold four SATA hard drives of any size. And if you run out of room you just swap out the smallest sized drive with a larger one. It’s quick, easy, and painless. Now what about backups? The great news is that Drobo makes multiple copies of your data across the hard drives you’ve added. If a drive fails you’ll still have your data. It’s beautiful.

Setting Up

Installing the drobo to my intel mac-mini was a breeze. I installed two drives, plugged it in and began formatting. Next, I started moving all the data from my two MyBook external drives over. Once that was done I extracted the drives from the MyBooks and fed them to the hungry hungry Drobo for formatting.

Three Months Later

I’ve been using the Drobo as part of my home entertainment system. I have a mac-mini I access with FrontRow and the little white mac remote. The drobo stores backups of my DVD collection so I preserve the integrity of the DVD disks.

The Drobo is Loud. The fans rev up and reach their peak when writing lot’s of data. I quickly learned for example that if I’m looking for a quiet evening, I write my data to the internal drive and then copy it over to the Drobo in one fell swoop. Watching a movie off the Drobo will ultimately spin up the fans and become especially annoying (although tolerable) during quieter films. Drobo fan’s won’t complain about a short 30 minute show.

The Drobo is Slow. Don’t expect amazing throughput with this machine. With the virtualization layers and multiple writes to the different drives, it takes some time. The real annoyance here is that a two-hour movie will usually hang a couple times if writes are happening in the background.

The Drobo is Hot. I moved over all my GarageBand audio loops to make space on my internal drive. Now this really gives the Drobo a run for it’s money if you try to work in GarageBand and all its’ real-time glory. I usually stop after thirty minutes or so because the Drobo is just too loud and the drives are so effin’ hot.

What I’ve Learned

Don’t leave any software open that’s going to end up writing to the Drobo. For example if you have iTunes connected to the drobo, close iTunes when you’re done.
Don’t watch a movie AND write to the drobo at the same time.
Don’t download large files directly to the drobo. Download to the internal drive and then move the files over to the drobo.

Conclusion

While I’ve never felt safer with my data, the drobo is not the best solution for a home media system. The biggest drawback is not the slow read/write times which I can live with, but the noise from the fans. I want to be able to watch a two hour movie without the fans spinning up. The fan sound doesn’t overtake the movie audio, but it is noticeable/annoying when they kick in.

Thanks for that Matt

Created by Darren Mak (not verified) on February 26, 2008 - 1:51am.

I was looking at the Drobo for my living room setup as well, and am glad to have stumbled upon your thoughts. Thanks for taking the time to jot them down Matt.

psikolog

Created by psikolog (not verified) on November 12, 2009 - 7:09am.

psikolog
psikolog
psikolog
psikoterapi
hipnoterapi
hipnoz
sosyal fobi
nefes terapisi
uzman psikolog
spor psikolojisi
anksiyete

Oes Tsetnoc seo Contest one

Created by soer (not verified) on December 11, 2009 - 9:02pm.

rehlyjku Funs blog collect

Created by anonymous (not verified) on January 4, 2010 - 5:59am.

rehlyjku

Funs blog
collect bag
Ho jewelry Blog
Our simply
Bridal Lingerie
UGG Classic Cardy Boots
UGG Classic Short
UGG Classic Tall
UGG Nightfall Boots
UGG Mini Boots
UGG Sundance
Tiffany and Links
fashion life
handbag chooes
pick your shoes

And certainly one cannot

Created by anonymous (not verified) on February 1, 2010 - 7:18am.

And certainly one cannot expect Sohbet Odalari Sohbet this new modern leadership to come from the remnants of the old failed order that still controls the all too comfortable offices of the modern GOP and Chat Odalari conservative movement. Rather, look hard at those governors on display Chat last week in Miami for clues to the future of America's center-right. But as able as those governors are - Pawlenty, Jindal, limewire indir , Palin - one did not see an obvious President there, someone ready to take on Obama in 2012, and lead their Party from a deep and dark wilderness. Interesting folks, but no FDR, no Reagan, no Clinton, no Obama. Despite their claims, the GOP farm team seems awfully thin now, Sohbet at least for the short term.

I totally agree with you. I

Created by Phuong (not verified) on March 29, 2008 - 5:32pm.

I totally agree with you. I bought drobo instead of a NAS mainly because of the mix & match feature. However i found myself buying 4 identical drives anyway. One thing to notice is that, sometimes the drives inside keep spinning although i dont do any reading or writing at the time. My guess is that it was doing some kind of backing up routine. And last but not least, changing (or adding, or replacing) drives TAKES time. a lot. At a time, when it reached 50% full (about 700GB) i got curious and pulled one of the four drives out, and put it back in. It took this drive as a new one, so it did its reconciling routine, which lasted almost TWO days. yes, TWO effing days, during which i was so horrified as the user manual clearly states that if the power was cut, my data would be gone for good.

I forgot to mention that,

Created by Phuong (not verified) on March 29, 2008 - 5:38pm.

I forgot to mention that, all what i was saying wasn't to make the Drobo looks bad. Because, if you take a look at a ReadyNAS, or a Time Capsule, for example, you'll see very similar comments.

.

Created by . (not verified) on November 24, 2009 - 1:59pm.

This is a great article. I’m new to blogging but still learning.
Heves -
Kamerali Sohbet -
Chat Odalari -
Sex Sohbet -
Chat Siteleri -
Rather, look hard at those governors on display ,
Sohbet Siteleri -
cet -
Sicak Sohbet -
Erotik Chat -
Erotik sohbet -
Canli Sohbet -
cinsel sohbet -
sex sohbet
Thanks for the great resource.

I also agree

Created by mac_nick (not verified) on April 7, 2008 - 3:31pm.

Great review. Complements my thougts and experiences with the drobo. Especially the generated heat and noise. But i learned that closing the faceplate helps for better cooling.
On the first time i start using the drobo with two disks. The whole time i let the faceplate open (to look at the fancy lights). One of the drives died by heat (i think so). The drives are so damn hot that i coudn't touch them for a while. After that experience i bought an digital thermometer with an small external sensor. I installed now four drives (2 x 1 TB, 1 x 400, 1 x 500) and placed the sensor in the upper half of the disks and closed the faceplate. It was interesting to see the self-adjusting fan-system which won't work before with removed faceplate acts now as expected. Seems to me that the air vents of the faceplate forces the air stream in some way.

Keep the faceplate on

Created by matt westgate on April 27, 2008 - 3:51pm.

That's a great tip! Keeping the faceplate on keeps the auto-adjusting fans working as expected.

Replica Watches Replica

Created by anonymous (not verified) on November 9, 2009 - 3:28am.

Replica Watches Replica Watches
Rolex watches Rolex watches
swiss replica watches swiss replica watches
Omega Watches Omega Watches zhonglup11
replica rolex watches replica rolex watches
Rolex Sports Models Rolex Sports Models
rolex watches rolex watches
Rolex Datejusts watches Rolex Datejusts watches
A Lange Sohne watches A Lange Sohne watches
Aigner watches Aigner watches
Alain Silberstein watches-Alain Silberstein watches
Audemars Piguet watches Audemars Piguet watches
Aquraracer watches Aquraracer watches
Bell & Ross replica watches Bell & Ross replica watches
Breguet watches Breguet watches
Breitling watches-Breitling watches
Bvlgari watches Bvlgari watches
Turnograph SS watches Turnograph SS watches
Seiko watches Seiko watches
Tudor Watch Tudor Watch
Cartier watches Cartier watches
Chanel watches Chanel watches
Oyster Day date 18k Gold Oyster Day date 18k Gold
Chopard watches Chopard watches
Concord watches Concord watches
Corum watches Corum watches
Carrera watches Carrera watches
Dior watches Dior watches
Dolce & Gabbana watches Dolce & Gabbana watches
Ebel watches Ebel watches
Emporio Armani watches Emporio Armani watches
Gucci watches-Gucci watches
Graham watches Graham watches
Iwc Watch Iwc Watch
Jacob & Co watches Jacob & Co watches
Louis Vuitton watches Louis Vuitton watches
Link watches Link watches
Mont Blanc watches Mont Blanc watches
Movado watches Movado watches
MONACO watches MONACO watches
Mcrcedes-benz watches Mcrcedes-benz watches
Armani watches Armani watches
FERRARI watches FERRARI watches
Omega watches Omega watches
Oris watches Oris watches
Panerai watches Panerai watches
Patek Philippe watches Patek Philippe watches
Philip Stein watches Philip Stein watches
Porsche Design watches Porsche Design watches
PIAGET watches PIAGET watches
Rado watches Rado watches
Roger Dubuis watches Roger Dubuis watches
Sarcar watches Sarcar watches
Tag Heuer watches Tag Heuer watches
TSG Heuer watches TSG Heuer watches
Technomarine watches Technomarine watches
Vacheron Constantin watches acheron Constantin watches
Zenith watches Zenith watches
Yao Ming watches Yao Ming watches
Hublot watches Hublot watches
Tisssot watches Tisssot watches
Luminor Panerai watches Luminor Panerai watches
U-BOAT watches U-BOAT watches
Ulysse nardin watches Ulysse nardin watches

Thanks for the review. I am

Created by anonymous (not verified) on May 29, 2008 - 1:08pm.

Thanks for the review. I am looking for a home storage solution for my media center. While the drobo looks like a great idea I may hold off on buying it for a while to see if they can resolve any of these issues.

Next Version

Created by matt westgate on June 2, 2008 - 10:58pm.

Good idea. The drobo has a lot of potential and I can only hope they're working on drobo 2.0 to address some of the frustrations with this version.

Drobo 2.0 is out July 8

Created by anonymous (not verified) on July 20, 2008 - 8:34pm.

It's significantly faster, and the fans are quieter. They sell the 1.0 model for $350, and the new 2.0 is at the old price point of $500.

http://twipphoto.com/archives/593

http://www.drobo.com

Drive Life Expectancy

Created by Alex (not verified) on July 28, 2008 - 4:19pm.

Hi great review!!!

Im looking to buy one as i generate very large photoshop files for work (illustration student) and need to know there safely backed up.

I've never used hard drives on there own (other than external western digital my books, which are always dying, grrr)

whats the life expectancy of drives used with drobo, or is it just sods law when they die?

cheers

great

Created by anonymous (not verified) on December 3, 2008 - 10:47pm.

oh, it's great

pimapen

Created by anonymous (not verified) on November 22, 2009 - 11:21pm.

Du?akabin

kozmetik

Kartonpiyer

, fiyat, ucuz kuru temizleme, uygun kuru temizleme

I saved $50 at drobostore with this code: ACNCHE

Created by Robert (not verified) on December 21, 2008 - 11:55am.

2 of my friends have the drobo and love it. They do a lot of RAW photography and video editing.

I also have been hearing great things on the TWiT podcasts. It sounds like all the guys use them.

I just picked up one at Drobostore.com and entered this code

ACNCHE

it gave me $50 off the price instantly. I picked up one without drives and I'll go get cheap ones. 1 TB drives are just dropping below $99 so its a good time to buy. I'll post an update when I have it all set up but I can't wait.

rob

Guess you must be a

Created by anonymous (not verified) on January 24, 2009 - 11:36pm.

Guess you must be a corporate shill, if you check all the comments in drobo related posts on other blogs you see the same code from you repeatedly. Not a great way to do business dishonestly...

hip hop

Created by hip hop (not verified) on November 25, 2009 - 4:01pm.

HUBBMdtUDqfPU

Created by dispenser (not verified) on January 5, 2009 - 8:41am.

good job.good lucky))

links

Created by jai (not verified) on February 4, 2009 - 3:08am.

[url=http://www.cometocapetown.com]cape town holidays[/url]
[url=http://www.wheelx.com]Black Rims & chrome wheels & aluminum wheels[/url]
[url=http://www.bestdietpillsite.com/]best diet pills[/url]
[url=http://www.seoinfosoftech.co.cc/]seo delhi[/url]
[url=http://www.linkbuildingcompany.co.cc/]link building company[/url]
[url=http://dilshayari.blogspot.com/]shayari[/url]
[url=http://seohindi.blogspot.com]seo[/url]

Drobo 2

Created by David B. (not verified) on February 18, 2009 - 12:21am.

I purchased Drobo 2 in December. I had some problems, but I will say that the folks at Data Robotics went way out of there way to give me superior support. It turned out that 2 out the 4 drives I purchased with the unit were DOA. But they shipped me a new unit as part of the trouble shooting process. And continued to monitor my system for a while to make sure things were good.

The unit is quiet and extremely reliable. It has an updated power supply and fans vs. the Drobo 1.

I recommend getting 7200 rpm drives vs. the WD Green drives that I purchased.

I would highly recommend B&H Photo for the best price. It beats the discount on the Drobo site. At least the bundle was cheaper.

But I highly recommend the Drobo, and the Drobo 2 is definitely faster than the Drobo with the Droboshare.

My only complaint is the faceplate. Two of the lights can't be seen with the faceplate on. Power and data transfer.

vertu fashion index

Created by re (not verified) on September 14, 2009 - 1:50am.

Hi, This is great work and

Created by Buy Essays (not verified) on October 29, 2009 - 7:04am.

Hi,
This is great work and very good information. This post will really help beginners, although it is basic but, it will help others in great deal in future.

Ses ???k Projeksiyon Kiralama

Created by Ses ???k Projeksiyon Kiralama (not verified) on October 29, 2009 - 9:15am.

watchout

plazma kiralama

Simultane

Led ekran kiralama

Thank You

Hi,

Created by Custom Dissertation (not verified) on October 29, 2009 - 11:54pm.

This is inspiring; I am very pleased by this post. Nice info at this post thanks!!! I really like it

Hi, This is really a nice

Created by Dissertation Help (not verified) on October 30, 2009 - 1:30am.

Hi,
This is really a nice post, you share good piece of information. I appreciate the information, well thought out and written. Thank you
Dissertation Help

Hi, It was a very nice

Created by Coursework Writing (not verified) on October 31, 2009 - 12:40am.

Hi,
It was a very nice article! Just want to say thank you for the information you have shared. Just continue writing this kind of post. Thanks.

2.0 Sunset

Created by sikis (not verified) on October 31, 2009 - 6:39am.

thanksss

Hey

Created by Gregor (not verified) on November 1, 2009 - 9:36pm.

Hey nice post.
Thanx for sharing.

Gregor S.

Sofort Free SMS kostenlos versenden.

Auf dem Free SMS Blog Handy News lesen.

Immer tolle SMS Sprüche senden.

Ein Handy Bundle Vertrag finden.

Einen Prepaid Vergleich machen, für den richtigen Tarif.

Hi, This is really great

Created by Custom Term Paper (not verified) on November 4, 2009 - 1:02am.

Hi,
This is really great work. Thank you for sharing such a useful piece of information here in the blog.

Hi, It was a very nice post!

Created by Custom Essay Writing (not verified) on November 4, 2009 - 2:47am.

Hi,
It was a very nice post! Just want to say thank you for the information you have shared. Just continue writing this kind of post. Thanks.

Custom Essay Writing

replica watch

Created by anonymous (not verified) on November 4, 2009 - 3:26am.

Were not smart, but also learn from others bald.omega watchesChing had no water to fish, one to the cheap is invincible.replica watchI left Dragon, White Tiger right shoulder tattooed Mickey Mouse.replica watchesEfforts should be made! ! For your Audi Dior me.

Official website for Ed

Created by anonymous (not verified) on November 7, 2009 - 12:55am.

Official website for Ed Hardy Eyewear. The lifestyle Ed Hardy brand is based on the original Ed Hardy clothing, accessories, energy drink, Ed Hardy randed by
ed hardy ed hardy clothes
Ed hardy online store, whether you are looking for fashion Ed Hardy Clothing items, then you come to the right place, we offer a variety of ed hardy items.
Don cheap ed hardy is an American tattoo artist born and raised in Southern California in 1945. A pupil of Sailor Jerry, Hardy is recognized for incorporating.
Selling ed hardy men longsleeve,ed hardy swimsuit,ed hardy men swimsuit,ed hardy boot.
ed hardy clothes
west ed hardy,edhardy discount,ed hardy clothing,ed hardy shoes Commodity New styles have just arrived!
ed hardy
bdb

-aion gold

Created by anonymous (not verified) on November 7, 2009 - 3:34am.

The Aion whether href="http://www.aionkina.com">aion gold the long-term
Buy wow gold and World of Warcraft
www.game4power.com verification of the
buy cheapest wow gold struggle to carry on?
buy aion gold The end of aion gold processed into enriched
www.aionkina.com World of Warcraft world-wide
cheap wow gold dominance of
warhammer gold
the game industry?
Buy aion gold