We tell you guy about Data RoboticsDrobo storage robota few months back . The picayune knockout drive enclosure that will hold up to four 3.5″ campaign . Well we ’ve been trying out our very own demo unit for the last calendar week or so .
https://gizmodo.com/drobo-the-storage-robot-that-keeps-your-hdds-in-check-250435
What do we suppose ? It ’s expensive , for starters , and the larboard list leaves something to be hope .
First things first , what did n’t we like ?
Price
It ’s $ 500 , and it does n’t amount with any memory board - only the envelopment . Now just for fun let ’s go over what else we could get for $ 500 :
• 4 GB iPhone
• Xbox 360 Elite or PS3 20 GB or 2 Nintendo Wii ’s
• Toshiba HD - A1 HD DVD Player
Ok , so it ’s either one of those cat or the Drobo . But if money ’s no object or you really like hard ride place then that wo n’t be a problem . But if you ’re like us , we in person would have to think longsighted and surd about this leverage before we drop that much cash on an empty hard movement enclosure .
Ports
Drobo is USB 2 only . While many multitude claim that USB 2 is enough tight enough , if you ’re plunk down a couple hundred dollars you ’d expect at least USB2 , Firewire 400 & 800 or even an Ethernet port wine .
The good news is that Data Robotics substantiate that they are move to at least implement Firewire into succeeding revisions . But for now it ’s a bad ol’ deduction .
Startup Lag
If you have four drives installed , wait for all of them to birl up seems like an timeless existence . We ca n’t tell you how many times we went to make unnecessary a file and the electronic computer seems to freeze down , only to hear the familiar wrrring of four hard drives ramping up tardily , one after another . This gets very annoying at multiplication . But , unless you require to have your drives constantly running it was unavoidable .
Software
One of the claims Data Robotics makes is that Drobo demand zero software program for use . While this is technically true , Drobo is punch - and - wreak , and on a Mac it leads to an interesting trouble . OS X name Drobo as a 2 TB drive no matter how much store has been installed . To assuage this problem they do include an applications programme scream the Drobo Dashboard that will recite you how much blank you really have . However , it has been pretty spotty . Many times it could n’t even tell that there was a Drobo attached . Also , this could have easily been turned into a widget for Dashboard or a Sidebar gadget .
Unstable
One affair we encountered was the instability of the Drobo . While it must be unmanageable attempting to keep up multiple drives of different speeds and capacity , this is what Drobo is conjecture to do . However multiple clip during our mental test our computers would claim that our Drobo was unreadable and that the only options were to eject or reformat . This plainly can not happen to your memory board on a steady foundation . Which we recover out the hard way , as our Drobo video review was wiped out .
However , that ’s about as bad as it receive ( although the last one was moderately high-risk ) . We know you ’re all dwelling on all of this right now , but the Drobo is in reality a fairly amazing spell of ironware when it is running like it should be . Now on to what we love about it .
Drive Virtualization
No longer do you have to interest about a file that is 100 GB when you only have 2 80 GB campaign . Drobo does a fantastic Book of Job of instantly mashing your drives together into one large practical parkway . No more keep some filing cabinet on one drive and others on another . Drobo incite all of the data around in small-scale packet , so that it can be dispersed over all of your drive . Basically it act like a RAID setup , but without all of the technical setup that ’s typically required .
labor instalment
This is where Drobo beam , it makes set up a fresh drive as easy as popping in a tapeline into a videocassette recorder . Just take any 3.5 - column inch SATA strong drive and pour down it in . you do n’t need any instrument and it does n’t matter what speed or size each drive is . Just thrash it in and lease Drobo go to work , instantly you ’ll see your available storage space increase .
Backup
We love none of us backup our datum intimately as much as we should , or at all for that subject . But who can fault us when it ’s such a botheration to have to keep on balancing external drives or establish yet another interior movement .
Drobo is the first backup resolution that I ’ve watch that might actually work ( Aside fromTime automobile ) , and that ’s because it does it without even asking . It is always making backups of your data . However this come at a cost with storage space . For instance if you installed 1 TB Charles Frederick Worth of drives , you really are only getting 509.9 GB of pure storage before Drobo start tell you to go out and look for a heavy driving force to bulge in .
https://gizmodo.com/apple-os-x-leopard-everything-youd-want-to-know-about-192664
While it does take its toll on available space , how prissy is it knowing that all your pictures , file , songs & movies are all safe for once .
gismo
One of our computers is a Mac Mini that is covered in external drives- two 80 GB drives , one 250 GB drive , and one 300 GB drive . That mean there are four enclosures , four power brick , and four fans twirl and they are n’t even in a RAID array , so they ’re independent storage spaces .
Drobo gratefully get rid of all of that . You have one boxwood , one power cord and one intelligent fan scheme that only runs when it have ardent . And when you inhabit in a tiny flat every inch counts , so getting rid of all those extra component is quite a luxury .
Style
compare to most hard movement enclosures the Drobo looks like a piece of prowess . With its simplistic black turnout and glossy magnetic cover , it definitely will grab your attention , while still being simplistic enough not to stand out too much .
While the store monitor lighting is well done , we do wish their was an option to turn it off since it ’s passably bloody bright ( you may see it glowing all the direction down the block ) and you may get the same info from the Drobo Dashboard app .
Final Verdict
We suggest persuading your friend to pick one up so that the price omit quicker . That path when you go and buy one after a revision or two , not only will some of the defect be influence out ( Stability / Ports ) , but it should be more reasonably priced as well . Because once they get the grow pains straightened out this will be a dandy storage solution . However give the current price and constancy issues we say pass on the Drobo for now .
Okay , referee , now that we ’ve got that out of the way - what do you want to recognise about the Drobo ? What questions are still linger around that head word of yours ? Let us recognise and we ’ll post a follow up for you .
Gadgetshome entertainmentreview
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