Drobo - Is there a replacement on the way?

Raymond Lin · 25 Dec 2009 at 20:06

I just realised i have only 15G left in my 500G WD external backup for my Mac, always wanted a Drobo anyway so this is the perfect excuse but it seems that the 4 Bay version is out of stock everywhere???

Is there a new version on the way by any chance?

Tomsk · 25 Dec 2009 at 22:32

There is an 8 bay version available.

I went from a 2TB WD external NAS to a Drobo, but now have a WHS system. A proper server is much better than a SOHO NAS or Drobo. Running WHS is also just as easy as a plug in NAS.

Raymond Lin · 25 Dec 2009 at 23:05

Tomsk said:
There is an 8 bay version available.

I went from a 2TB WD external NAS to a Drobo, but now have a WHS system. A proper server is much better than a SOHO NAS or Drobo. Running WHS is also just as easy as a plug in NAS.

What's a WHS system???

ali825 · 25 Dec 2009 at 23:32

here a link

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/winfamily/windowshomeserver/default.mspx

JonJ678 · 26 Dec 2009 at 00:13

I really like the idea of a drobo, right up to the point where it occurs that if it breaks there's probably no way I can fix it, and the data may be unrecoverable. Instead you can just run a normalish computer with multiple hard drives and an appropriate operating system.

I've got an amd dual core running ubuntu server from a usb stick with multiple hard drives, no monitor or keyboard attached. It's been purring along quite happily for ages. If I cared about electricity bills I'd have based it on an atom instead. It's doing excellently as a NAS and was assembled entirely from spare parts. Probably as reliable as a drobo, and if it breaks, I can fix it. Don't know if this is a proper server in Tomsk's eyes or not.

edit: worthy of mention is the Chenbro ES34069 chassis. Four hot swap 3.5" bays, takes a mini itx board of your choice. There's a few options, I think there's one with two bays and one with only internal. One of these with appropriate board would be sublime.

twist3d0n3 · 26 Dec 2009 at 01:02

jon, that's an absolutely fantastic solution; i'm in the process of upgrading my rig due to dead mobo, so have a spare chip/few spare HD's - i think you've solved my headache of spending a wad on a cheap p45 board

Raymond Lin · 26 Dec 2009 at 10:04

My first option from years ago is to get a separate PC and do that....then i realise i dunno how, now space is also an issue so really something like the Drobo is the best solution, for me.

Tomsk · 26 Dec 2009 at 17:18

If you room for a Drobo, then you probably have room for an ITX system, such as the one JonJ678 has mentioned.

I can understand you being apprehensive about setting up a PC based server. My first server was an XP PC with some extra drives. Easy to use (because it's XP) but not very elegant. I then went to a WD NAS (2TB) but I got frustrated because it was so slow, compared to my XP server. I tried a Drobo, but that was also too slow for me (faster than the NAS though). I did think about Linux, but I've never got my head round that, so eventually I downloaded a trial of WHS.

Installing and using WHS is easy. You just temporarily hook up a monitor, keyboard, mouse and CD/DVD drive and install. After installation, the WHS server can run headless (ie without monitor, KB and mouse). Mine has been running since March 2009 and after a month of initial fiddling I haven't touched it.

A WHS system also has the same pseudo-RAID system as a Drobo, but it's more flexible. A Drobo will duplicate every byte of data, a WHS system can be more selective ie duplicate your photos, but not your DVD rips. WHS will also back up your PC(s) auitomatically

Your WD NAS probably maxes out at about 7MB/sec. A Drobo will get maybe >20MB/sec. A PC based server will be restricted by the speed of the hard drives or the network.

If you have an old PC I suggest you download the trial of WHS and try it. A new PC with WHS can be purchased from OcUK for £250. Drives are extra, but you can use the drive out of your NAS.

bigredshark · 26 Dec 2009 at 17:27

If you're using a Mac then WHS offers much less and something like the Netgear Readynas Duo is a better value option (not to mention it's power consumption is excellent compared to any WHS option...)

I like the Drobo and I'm currently tempted myself but it has a few issues - without the droboshare add on it's expensive for direct attached storage and with it it's an expensive NAS.

Performance isn't great (though there's a 5 bay esata equipped version out now (more expensive though) but it's not truly terrible either. Having tried a friends one a while back I'm not sure I'd want to run something like my Aperture library off it.

Good news is reliability is pretty well spoken off (and personally I'm not too fussed, it has a warranty and I have backups. Any solution can potentially fail at the end of the day.)

To answer the original point though, no, there's no new version I know off, the basic 4 bay drobo S is still on sale and my favourite places have it in stock at the moment...

Raymond Lin · 27 Dec 2009 at 01:40

bigredshark said:
If you're using a Mac then WHS offers much less and something like the Netgear Readynas Duo is a better value option (not to mention it's power consumption is excellent compared to any WHS option...)

I like the Drobo and I'm currently tempted myself but it has a few issues - without the droboshare add on it's expensive for direct attached storage and with it it's an expensive NAS.

Performance isn't great (though there's a 5 bay esata equipped version out now (more expensive though) but it's not truly terrible either. Having tried a friends one a while back I'm not sure I'd want to run something like my Aperture library off it.

Good news is reliability is pretty well spoken off (and personally I'm not too fussed, it has a warranty and I have backups. Any solution can potentially fail at the end of the day.)

To answer the original point though, no, there's no new version I know off, the basic 4 bay drobo S is still on sale and my favourite places have it in stock at the moment...

I do use a mac and i have noticed that the deal that comes with droboshare free has gone now. But it's not a bad thing, it was never technically free, it was about £60 more than the one without the droboshare....my plan was always going to get an Apple Extreme and add the Drobo to that. Making the Drobo wireless too.

So it's basically £280 for the drobo, £150 for 2 x 1.5TB drives, plus £130 for Apple Extreme....that's £550 ! and i have only 14GB left in my WD ext drive......lol need to start deleting stuff i think.

iraiguana · 27 Dec 2009 at 09:52

I was in the same boat. Got a dual core atom board with 2 TB drives and run ubuntu server with nothing attached.

Terminal and linux are very similar and play nicely together so ssh over to the server to update it whenever I feel like.

Follow this guide:

http://www.kremalicious.com/2008/06/ubuntu-as-mac-file-server-and-time-machine-volume/

to get AFP server running and you are away! Lots of help with ubuntu forum/wiki to get the basic know how. Start it up with monitor first though so you can get it set-up then just tell it to stop running the gui and you are done.

Took me most of a day or two to learn everything and get it set-up.

Total cost was ~£250 at the time, but you can get them a little cheaper now and most of the cost is the hdd.

Toekiller · 27 Dec 2009 at 11:38

Meet my cube. I'd recommend the 'Server' route too.

Raymond Lin · 27 Dec 2009 at 14:25

iraiguana said:
I was in the same boat. Got a dual core atom board with 2 TB drives and run ubuntu server with nothing attached.

Terminal and linux are very similar and play nicely together so ssh over to the server to update it whenever I feel like.

Follow this guide:

http://www.kremalicious.com/2008/06/ubuntu-as-mac-file-server-and-time-machine-volume/

to get AFP server running and you are away! Lots of help with ubuntu forum/wiki to get the basic know how. Start it up with monitor first though so you can get it set-up then just tell it to stop running the gui and you are done.

Took me most of a day or two to learn everything and get it set-up.

Total cost was ~£250 at the time, but you can get them a little cheaper now and most of the cost is the hdd.

That's the kind of post that push me towards the drobo, not away from it.

A day or 2 to learn it and set it up??? I don't really have that kind of time, i work 7 days a week. I want something that i can take it out of the box, and then start backing up within 15 mins of plugging it in. The days of faffing around with PC, OS and stuff to get it working is way behind me, hence partly why i got a mac. Technology should serve me, i don't want to service it. I don't mind paying that bit extra tbh, time at the moment is more important for me.

bigredshark · 27 Dec 2009 at 16:44

Raymond Lin said:
I do use a mac and i have noticed that the deal that comes with droboshare free has gone now. But it's not a bad thing, it was never technically free, it was about £60 more than the one without the droboshare....my plan was always going to get an Apple Extreme and add the Drobo to that. Making the Drobo wireless too.

So it's basically £280 for the drobo, £150 for 2 x 1.5TB drives, plus £130 for Apple Extreme....that's £550 ! and i have only 14GB left in my WD ext drive......lol need to start deleting stuff i think.

Weak link there might be the airport extreme, I have one and transfer rates with an attached USB drive are fairly poor (much worse than from another NAS device plugged into the same airport). I'd be nervous about that setup for anything other than backup.

If you're not going to direct attach your Drobo (or use the droboshare) then I'd seriously consider the Netgear Readynas Duo, it's a good little box for the price. Doesn't have the same expandability but it's less than half the price...