Drobo - is it worth the money?

Kemik

Kemik

Kemik

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Hey,

Here's my current setup:
200GB Macbook Pro
500GB IcyBox USB2.0 External HDD used for TimeMachine (backing up)

The problem is my Macbook Pro hard drive is full. It's mainly DVD backups for moving out to Uni.

So, I have two options.

1. Buy a 320GB 2.5" hard drive for my MBP and get it installed by a authorised service provider. Then buy a 1TB hard drive for the IcyBox to allow for the increased MBP hard drive. Cost = £60 320GB HDD + £25 installation + £90 1TB HDD. Total cost = £175.

2. Buy a Drobo and two 500GB hard drives. Insert the 500GB from my IcyBox and the two new drives in to Drobo to get 1TB of redundant space. Partition the 1TB to 2 x 500GB. One partition for media and one for TimeMachine. Cost = 2 x £50 500GB HDD + £335 Drobo = £435

What do you guys reckon?
 
Get a 1Tb hard drive for backup.

Use your 500Gb for files and get Time Machine to backup both the MacBook and Icybox drives to the 1Tb.
 
You should look at the drobo as a longterm storage investment. As bigger capacity drives get cheaper, they replace smaller drives in the drobo to increase it's capacity.

It's speed is comparable with other USB, firewire and domestic/SOHO NAS devices. With USB I get about 20MB/s, other users using FW800 report ~35MB/s. The network droboshare runs at <10MB/s.
 
Kemik said:
But if the drive fails I'll lose all 1TB of media.
Click to expand...

But you said they were backups? Oh, that kind of 'backup'?

I deleted about 700GB of 'backups' the other day. (aquired over 5+ years) It's pointless to keep them. The space I reclaimed is worth more to me than the files themselves.
 
The most space, for the foreseeable future, I will use for media is 500GB from things like PlayTV transfers, DVD backups, etc. I do really want to keep everything backed up though.

It seems like a vote for each atm. Don't get me wrong, the Drobo's look great it's just the price that's holding me back.

Tomsk said:
It's speed is comparable with other USB, firewire and domestic/SOHO NAS devices. With USB I get about 20MB/s, other users using FW800 report ~35MB/s. The network droboshare runs at <10MB/s.
Click to expand...

The reason I've not bought a QNap is because I'd have to transfer over the network and that's pretty slow (10MB/s). It wouldn't take that long to be fair but it means pushing more things through my BT Home Hub, whereas Drobo would be the same as my IcyBox - FireWire. I told myself I would use the media server and all that but in reality I wouldn't. It's quicker and more stable to use copy to a USB stick and put the media in my PS3.
 
Does anyone know if they are going to release an updated droboshare that uses firewire rather than USB? I wish these had Gigabit network connectivity built in - $200 is a lot for what is essentially just a network port, and a slow one at that.
 
monkeyharris said:
Does anyone know if they are going to release an updated droboshare that uses firewire rather than USB? I wish these had Gigabit network connectivity built in - $200 is a lot for what is essentially just a network port, and a slow one at that.
Click to expand...

It isn't the USB that slows the Droboshare - it's the controller in the Droboshare itself. The controller has about as much power as a PDA, similar to other SOHO NAS devices. A Droboshare gets about 12MB/s. My Drobo connected via USB will gets ~20MB/s.
 
Yeh I guess, either way if im going to shell out £300+ on the drobo, plus £160+ on the droboshare, I think I'm going to wait for version 3. Hopefully that will be more up to date with todays tech.
 
I like the idea of the droboshare, but I'm going to wait and see if there is a proper network version before looking at it again.
 
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