Data Robotics says Drobo is the world's first data storage robot. It has a point. It's no C-3PO, but it can automate most aspects of data storage. It serves as a giant repository which, in theory, will never lose data, never run out of space and can repair itself if problems arise. It's available now for £349.
Strengths
Drobo is an external hard drive enclosure with a difference. It accepts anything up to four separate 3.5-inch SATA hard drives and turns that combined space into one central repository for storing data. Nothing new here -- but what's interesting is that it lets you hot-swap hard drives back and forth while the Drobo and the PC are switched on and in full use.
It's like an external RAID device - which can copy files from one disk to another so you never lose data -- but is superior in many ways. Drobo uses a proprietary virtualisation technology that allows it to work with just a single drive or up to three others. Drives can be added by sliding them into the Drobo's empty drive bays – no screws or tools are needed.
Once up and running you can use the drive space as if it were a single giant dumping ground for files. You can even increase the amount of storage you have whenever you see fit by adding another drive to a vacant bay. By contrast, increasing capacity in a RAID-based storage system normally requires backing up all files, replacing disks, then rebuilding the entire array -- very time consuming.
Disk replacement is inevitable with the Drobo, but the good news is that you can simply remove the smallest drive, replace it with a larger one and enjoy the extra capacity. It's like replacing batteries in a torch -- except the light never goes off.
The Drobo is currently limited to 4TB -- but that's only because there are four bays and current disk drives are limited in capacity to 1TB. Once larger drives emerge, so will the storage ceiling of the Drobo.
Aesthetically, the Drobo is very well designed. It stays cool to the touch, and while it isn't quiet enough to live in a suburban bedroom, its cooling fan isn't particularly intrusive. We like the slightly toaster-esque chassis and the glossy black removable front panel, which looks attractive against the blue and green indicator lights. Those lights, incidentally, give you visual feedback as to when you're running out of space, or when a drive can and can't be removed.
Weaknesses
While the Drobo is a compelling proposition, it's not without its problems. There's a very real danger that ill-educated users will abuse the freedom they have to yank drives in and out of the Drobo. It's easy to misinterpret or ignore the warning lights at the front of the unit, which could spell disaster.
Adding new, unused drives to an empty drive bay is quick and effortless, but the process of swapping an old drive for a new one is far from instantaneous. It can take hours before the new drive integrates itself with your existing Drobo file system, and while that's happening, your data may not be protected -- depending on how much capacity is available on the remaining disks.
That brings us to our second bugbear. The Drobo can only be connected to your PC via USB. Its lack of an Ethernet port or wireless adaptor means it can't be accessed over a network unless your PC or an Apple Airport remains switched on. The Drobo's target audience will almost certainly miss this feature, but the good news is that the device does at least have relatively fast transfer speeds -- up to 680Mbps. It's rare you'll get close to this theoretical maximum, but it's still faster than a 10/100Mbps wired Ethernet connection or a 54Mbps 802.11g Wi-Fi link.
Conclusion
Drobo is a great invention. It should be commended for giving users protection against data loss and the ability to top up their levels of storage as they see fit. It doesn't come cheap, and it lacks an Ethernet feature, but it could be just the thing for anyone with precious and burgeoning file collections.
Edited by Jason Jenkins
Additional editing by Shannon Doubleday
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robbyx 17 April 2008
Good: It looks good!
Bad: It destroyed 2TB of data. Enough said!
Comment: I just read your Drobo review and wanted to share my experience with Drobo. I don't think you should be endorsing it.
I pre-ordered my Drobo, so consider me an early adopter. At first, I *LOVED* it. Innovative, slick, and a worthy alternative to RAID5, I thought. After applying the first firmware update, the Drobo rebooted and my Mac informed me that the connected disk was unformatted and asked what I wanted to do (Initialize, Ignore, Eject). As you can imagine, I was immediately filled with panic and dread.
Over the past five years or more, I've built a huge (legal) music collection. I'm a music freak and buy between 5 and 10 CDs each month. I had painstakingly ripped each and every one of my 2000+ CDs to the Drobo, both in Apple Lossless format for my home stereo and AAC format for my iPod. I can't even imagine how many hours (hundreds?) I spent doing this. I also took the time to verify all of the metadata (artist, album, etc) and correct any tag errors. As you can imagine, this was VERY TEDIOUS!!!
Recently I've been ripping my DVD collection and converting it to MP4 for my Apple TV. Each rip/conversion takes between 3-4 hours. A hundred DVDs or so and you're looking at another 300 hours of time spent.
So, I called Drobo tech support. They walked me through a procedure that involved removing and re-inserting the drives. At first this didn't work. Then the tech told me to change the position of the drives in the Drobo. Voila! It took about three days to "protect" the data. After this process had finished, my data was back and I was much relieved.
Until the next firmware update.
The most recent update completely hosed my data. This time, tech support's procedure didn't work. It took 12 days to "protect" my data and when all was finished, my data was lost. Throughout this experience, I made efforts to contact tech support. I sent them my Drobo's diagnostic files, as requested. Someone from Drobo sent me the occasional terse email saying "This is a high priority case!" or "Please be patient!" A month later, how patient am I supposed to be???
A few months ago, I contributed a review of Drobo to Macintouch.com. I'm a regular contributor. I praised it and encouraged others to give it a shot. Needless to say, after my recent experience, I wrote to retract my recommendation and explain why. I sent a copy to my Drobo contact's email in the hopes that it might inspire Drobo to actually DO SOMETHING about my problem.
Would you care to hazard a guess as to how Drobo responded?
THEY CLOSED MY CASE (on April 10), despite the fact that:
1) I'm a paying customer.
2) I'm under warranty.
3) I was an early adopter who put my faith in them and their product.
They don't care one iota that I lost 2TB of data that took me years to accumulate and organize. At this point, I've accepted that my data is gone. However, I'm DEEPLY DISAPPOINTED in the utterly pathetic response I've received from customer service.
As you can well imagine, I'm very angry and frustrated. My experience is not unique either. There are others on DroboSpace.com and various forums (I've been searching!) who have all encountered the same problem.
Thanks for listening. I hope my experience has provided another perspective on this troublesome product. More importantly, I hope that it has demonstrated how insincere Drobo is about customer service.
Tim Martin 25 February 2008
Good: Style, Ease of Use, Expandability
Bad: Cost
Comment: Not a bad review, but you might want to mention the Drobo Share which was launched at MacWorld to give it ethernet connectivity albeit at even more cost.
I would like one, but the cost here in the UK is prohibitive. It's got potential but until performance issues as reported on their own forums and the price comes down in the UK I can't see myself purchasing one.
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