I'm totally ready for more storage for my digital media and it seemed like Drobo was they way to go, but after reading some online reviews the consensus is that it's not "ready for prime time." What's everyone's opinion on this seeing as how many of you seem to have one? If Drobo isn't the best answer then what is?
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Questions about Drobo?
- Thread starter cwazytech
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I've had my Drobo ver 1, for over a year and love I wish it were a little faster but it's fine for backup use. No scientific proof, but Droboshare seems even slower to me so I went back to direct connecting it to my iMac The current FW unit is better I'm sure
Bottom line, not perfect, but easy to setup & use. You can't beat the ability to easily increase capacity as drive sizes get larger.
Bottom line, not perfect, but easy to setup & use. You can't beat the ability to easily increase capacity as drive sizes get larger.
It's no different than any other hardware RAID solution. If the device fails, you buy another and plug in your drives.
A.
I have a Drobo 800 and everything has worked great except for both times I have added another hard drive and went from 3 drives to 4 I completely lost the array. I have completely lost my faith in Drobo as a storage product and would not purchase one again. It is a novel idea but from my experience they just don't seem to have it right yet. My recommendation would be to have a current backup, if not daily then weekly, because at any time you could loose everything.Now that Western Digital has announced (released?) a 2TB drive that means you have the ability to potentially loose 5.5GB of data.
Could this be achieved using SuperDuper or CCC?
I too am on the cusp of picking up a Drobo for iTunes storage and Time Machine.
I've looked at the ReadyNAS and Qnap 509 but they both seem a bit complicated and expensive. I like the Drobo for it's simplicity and expandabilty but would feel uncomfortable running backup-less with any device, especially one with a proprietary data format.
I'll probably end up picking one up to consolidate the 4 extrrnals I currently have. If anyone can confirm that you can use SuperDuper or CCC to back Drobo up, that'd be great.
I am running a Drobo V2 and absolutely love it. No problems whatsoever. I, however, only have three of the four bays used at this point. I am not a fanboy, and will say that some have problems. I have not ever experienced any of them, so I have a pretty good opinion of it. You could get one of the slightly pricier ReadyNAS solutions, but what attracted me to the Drobo and still does is it's simplicity. I used to set-up raid arrays on the PC side of things, and just didn't feel like going that route anymore.
My bottom line opinion-It's definitely worth considering.
My bottom line opinion-It's definitely worth considering.
I see. Since I'd only have about 900 gb of data on the drobo, I could back this up to a 1 TB drive.
What backup method are you using since abandoning the Drobo?
I had problems with my first Drobo v2 unit, but they arranged a swapout very quickly which cured the issues I was having. More importantly, I didn't lose any data in the process and I went on to buy a second Drobo.
I'd definitely recommend one based on my experience.
The main thing to remember as has been mentioned is that as with any RAID-based solution, you need to have a backup as well. The good thing when it comes to backing up media libraries is that once you've ripped everything, the majority of the backup doesn't change much, but the downside is that the total backup could be quite big.
I'd definitely recommend one based on my experience.
The main thing to remember as has been mentioned is that as with any RAID-based solution, you need to have a backup as well. The good thing when it comes to backing up media libraries is that once you've ripped everything, the majority of the backup doesn't change much, but the downside is that the total backup could be quite big.
no problems with mine!!
Have all for bays used, 1.5tb HD in each, use it with time machine, and have all my media on it...works like a charm...I have v2....best back up I have used
Have all for bays used, 1.5tb HD in each, use it with time machine, and have all my media on it...works like a charm...I have v2....best back up I have used
I use it for my media and other important files. I only backup the important files to two external hard drives, one left on-site and the other is off-site. I just drag and drop the files.
The Drobo in and of itself s not a data backup solution. It only protects you of a single hard drive failure. If you loose the volume but all of the hard drives are ok then your screwed. The same goes for if you delete a file and need it back.best back up I have used
I have had the FireWire Drobo for a short while now, and love it. I have had no problems. I started with 3 bays full, and when it warned me about reaching capacity (90%) I plugged in another 320GB drive into the 4th bay. The capacity was immediately available, and I had no problems with data loss or anything.
If I were asked what I like/don't like about it:
Like: Simple to set up, easy to add additional capacity (and you don't have to reformat to do it), can use bare internal SATA drives
Dislike: It is a bit noisy, and is slower than a traditional drive
I considered a RAID system, but then realized that anytime I wanted to add capacity I would have to reformat a new array. That would mean copying the data from the old array somewhere, setting up the new RAID, and then copying it back. No thanks.
Oh, and I use my Drobo for external storage of my iPhoto and iTunes libraries. I have an additional 500GB external USB drive that I use exclusively for Time Machine. That way if my internal HD fails or a Drobo drive fails, my photos/music/videos are fine. If I accidentally delete a file(s), I can use the Time Machine to restore. The only thing I am not covered for is a disaster to the house that would wipe out all drives. For that, I think an additional drive in a safe deposit box would suffice.
If I were asked what I like/don't like about it:
Like: Simple to set up, easy to add additional capacity (and you don't have to reformat to do it), can use bare internal SATA drives
Dislike: It is a bit noisy, and is slower than a traditional drive
I considered a RAID system, but then realized that anytime I wanted to add capacity I would have to reformat a new array. That would mean copying the data from the old array somewhere, setting up the new RAID, and then copying it back. No thanks.
Oh, and I use my Drobo for external storage of my iPhoto and iTunes libraries. I have an additional 500GB external USB drive that I use exclusively for Time Machine. That way if my internal HD fails or a Drobo drive fails, my photos/music/videos are fine. If I accidentally delete a file(s), I can use the Time Machine to restore. The only thing I am not covered for is a disaster to the house that would wipe out all drives. For that, I think an additional drive in a safe deposit box would suffice.
I'm a happy drobo owner for about 6 months (since the FW800 version came out). I would make the following comments:
1) Write speeds are slow - I get 15-20mb/sec probably. while this is fine for my purpose (time machine backup drive) if I were using it for realtime use, it would be annoying
2) It is super simple to use, quiet, and reliable (thus far). I owned a higher end eSATA raid 5 box before that would drop drives, and rebuild the array frequently, thereby endangering my data. Drobo has been plug and play since day one.
3) Looks cool. Yes, that's a silly thing, but I like the looks and it makes me happy.
If you're looking for a drive to edit video from, or do large file editing in photoshop, i would not recommend it, but for large data backup, itunes libraries, etc I think it's a great product and well worth the money.
Just my experience, YMMV.
I had the same issues as Ascender.. I had an early V2 and it was a bit odd from the start and it finally failed.. but I pulled all the drives and they sent me a new one and this one is working great.. no date loss only down time.. for Apple TV it does the job pretty well...
I'd consider the HP MediaSmart Server as an alternative. It's highly configurable, runs on Windows so you can install plug-ins and software on it (some have iTunes running right on the server so you don't need your computer open to stream), and it's even more scalable than the Drobo because it has not only 4 hot-swappable bays, but ports for external drives which can contribute to the overall storage space.
I had one once and was pretty happy with it.
I had one once and was pretty happy with it.