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Drobo on the cheap!!!
- Thread starter nando2323
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No problems at all, Bye Bye Baby. As long as its directly attached it works fine. I've been using it like that for over a year now with the atv. Haven't turned it off once in all that time. Just use cyberduck to access it through the atv to add and delete files.
Yes Trag it does play video_ts files.
http://forums.plexapp.com/index.php?showtopic=1293
Yes Trag it does play video_ts files.
http://forums.plexapp.com/index.php?showtopic=1293
Thanks a lot kboller07. I will most likely be getting an ATV and a Drobo towards the end of summer or so. I hope they update the ATV though. I've held out for a real update for a while. It may even be updated with iPods in September now. It's considered an iPod for TV.
But what about the processor of the mini vs the apple tv? I had an apple tv and now have a mini. The mini is what's up if you just compare movie watchin experience. No random freezes or anything.
When my mini powers on Plex starts automatically so I usually don't remember it's a computer.
When my mini powers on Plex starts automatically so I usually don't remember it's a computer.
I can't understand all these posts complaining the Drobo is noisy. I have a FW800 Drobo sitting on my file cabinet next to my desk (not in a cabinet or anything, out in the open) and I've never heard it aside from the drives spinning up occasionally and that's just barely noticeable.
Maybe the USB versions are noisier?
My Drobo's (firewire version) fan is definitely noticeable, but not unbearable (it is louder than the drives spinning up). I sleep in the same room as my Drobo without any problem. The XBox 360 disk drive is significantly louder.
I am stuck using a Firewire 400 connection because of my Mac Mini, but I have no stuttering whatsoever when streaming anything from it. If I remember, tonight when I get home from work I'll run Xbench's drive testing function on the Drobo and post the results.
I am stuck using a Firewire 400 connection because of my Mac Mini, but I have no stuttering whatsoever when streaming anything from it. If I remember, tonight when I get home from work I'll run Xbench's drive testing function on the Drobo and post the results.
Mixed feelings
I've got mixed feelings on Drobo. I had mine set up with 4-500GB drives. When I needed to add more space, I thought I'd just add in a 1GB drive. Well, because of the way it handles space, adding 1 GB drive gave me the same amount of storage as I had previously. I had to add 2GB drives. I should have researched more and used the capacity calculator on their website.
The other annoying thing is when I replaced the 1st drive it took over 33hours. I had to wait until it completed before I could add my second. Then when I changed out the second drive, it took over 40 hours.
I've got mixed feelings on Drobo. I had mine set up with 4-500GB drives. When I needed to add more space, I thought I'd just add in a 1GB drive. Well, because of the way it handles space, adding 1 GB drive gave me the same amount of storage as I had previously. I had to add 2GB drives. I should have researched more and used the capacity calculator on their website.
The other annoying thing is when I replaced the 1st drive it took over 33hours. I had to wait until it completed before I could add my second. Then when I changed out the second drive, it took over 40 hours.
After a few weeks, it works pretty cool. Really no different than a regular external HD.
Setup:
09 Mini 2.0 w/ 4GB - Connected to my 42" Plasma via HDMI/DVI
+
FW Drobo - I have 2 x 1TB and about to add a third. I have no complaints other than, it is L O U D. It's kind of a cool sound but it's all I can hear most of the time. The only time I can't hear it is when I'm watching a movie.
Setup:
09 Mini 2.0 w/ 4GB - Connected to my 42" Plasma via HDMI/DVI
+
FW Drobo - I have 2 x 1TB and about to add a third. I have no complaints other than, it is L O U D. It's kind of a cool sound but it's all I can hear most of the time. The only time I can't hear it is when I'm watching a movie.
What drives do you have? I'm using 4 x 1Tb WD Green in mine and it's very quiet - most of the time I can't tell it's on apart from looking at the lights!
Yes you do have to watch the reviews to many of them read like "I deleted my files and now the data is gone -- Drobo sucks" That's the problem with letting anyone write a review.
If you want the best performance, lowest cost per terabyte and the best expandability, the thing to do is find a PC "server chassis" one with about eight slots for mounting disk drives. Then buy a medium performance mainboard. Install BSD Unix, Solaris or Linux. Then have that computer share it's files over your local network. Solaris runing a ZFS filesystem is by far more "industrial strength than a Drobo. But the Drobo is by far simpler to use and set up. You simply plug it in and turn it on and you are done.
It depends on what you need. most people do not have the skills to set up a file RAID based file server and are bettered served by Drobo. Even those who could set something up themselves may not have the time to do it.
About data loss. Don't be like the guy in my example review. Remember that RAID can't prevent loss of data. Only a well planned backup system can do that. You need at least three copies of the data at two geographic locations and the system needs to by incremental so that it does not over-write old backup data with new data.
Yeah, from what I understand you're suppose to tell it how much space you think you'll eventually tap it out on when you first set it up. Then you would've had no problem adding the 1GB drive.
From what I've read/heard, the way Drobo handles redundancy is supposedly better than any RAID setup because it's hot swappable, rebuilds in the background and you can have mixed drive sizes.
One question.
Since I have my drobo connected to my Mini am I able to access just the drobo over my wireless network via MacBook or iMac? If so, how?
Since I have my drobo connected to my Mini am I able to access just the drobo over my wireless network via MacBook or iMac? If so, how?
One problem I ran I to with the drobo. Apparently it is not a good editing drive (well at least not with final cut pro). Whenever I try to playback or scrub any 1080p there is about a second lag between when I hit the space bar to when the clip begins playing. Srcubbing is chopy. No problems with the same media in iMovie or AVID.
Outside of this, I really love it as media drive for iTunes. Just a shame I can't use it for editing. Plan to pick up a g-raid and use the drobo as a backup drive.
Outside of this, I really love it as media drive for iTunes. Just a shame I can't use it for editing. Plan to pick up a g-raid and use the drobo as a backup drive.
$319 after rebate now on Amazon 
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/t...t_shr?_encoding=UTF8&m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&v=glance
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/t...t_shr?_encoding=UTF8&m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&v=glance
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I really use them for different things. I use the ATV exactly as an ipod for my tv. I use the mini drobo combo as a media server for the whole house. So I have my Zeppelin etc all hooked up to an airport express so that music is piped throughout the house etc. Movies, photos, music and all digital content is on the server while the ATV plays it.
That sounds like a nice setup. I'm just trying to set up only my apartment bedroom, so I was skeptical if I needed a Mac mini since I already have a MacBook Pro (and do not have an extra keyboard and mouse lying around, which means more $$$). If I get either an Apple TV or a mini, it'd be hooked up to a TV. If I do go the route of an Apple TV and pass on the mini, could it stream from an external on the MBP if it is in sleep mode?