Drobo Adds Performance with New FireWire 800/USB 2.0 Version

Mark Edward Soper — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 18:44:51 -0500

The Drobo storage robot, which we tested in 2007, offers a fascinating combination of advanced data protection features, flexibility and support for SATA drives. Unfortunately, the original Drobo provides low throughput via its USB 2.0 connection. While its optional DroboShare accessory and forthcoming DroboApps application family enable it to operate as a storage device or a streaming media server on your Gigabit Ethernet network, better performance is what we'd like to see in either use.

Drobo, the Second Generation

Stung, perhaps, by our review's less-than-stellar 6 out of 10 score, Data Robotics is now rolling out a new version that features FireWire 800 (aka IEEE-1394b) ports as well as USB 2.0 ports. If you don't have a FireWire 800 port, the new Drobo has you covered. It includes bilingual ports that also run in FireWire 400 (IEEE-1394a) mode.

Making Drobo Faster

The new Drobo is designed to be faster, even if you use USB ports instead of FireWire ports. According to Data Robotics, "even if you’re now using USB 2.0, the new Drobo is up to three times as fast its predecessor in typical usage."

Give credit to a faster processor under the hood. Data Robotics says that the new Drobo is now fast enough for video editing.

Considering Drobo? Use Drobolator!

The Drobolator online capacity calculator will help you determine how many drives to install in a Drobo to reach your desired capacity (Drobo reserves some drive capacity for its RAID-like redundancy data protection features). For example, install three 500GB drives, and you'll have effective storage space of 929GB.

Bargain-Hunting for Drobo

The first-generation USB 2.0-only Drobos are now being cleared out at the Drobo Store, and you can buy either the new or the original Drobo in various 2TB and 4TB drive bundles.

With greater speed for USB 2.0 users and support for FireWire 800 ports, Drobo 2nd Generation looks like a sequel that could be better than the original.

Graphic courtesy Data Robotics.

Windows Home Server and Central Axis, Look Out: Drobo Broadens Network Media Server Category

Mark Edward Soper — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 13:23:24 -0500

Drobo 101: Flexible BYOD ("Bring Your Own Disks") Storage

Drobo combines the data-protection features of a RAID array, the storage pooling of JBOD ("just a bunch of disks"), and the ability to mix or match one to four SATA drives into a compact, USB 2.0 storage device that works with PCs, Linux boxes, or MacOS computers. See the data sheet (PDF format) here. Our tests found that the Drobo was quite slow compared to a standalone SATA drive in an enclosure. However, network storage is a different ballgame.

Drobo 202: Adding DroboShare

The DroboShare add-on enables you to connect one or two Drobos to your network via Gigabit Ethernet, and unlike some network storage devices, you can freely switch between local and network storage uses any time.

DroboShare + SDK = Network Media Server and Much More

There's a lot of interest in easy-to-use network media servers these days, as demonstrated by our stories on Windows Home Server and Maxtor Central Axis. Thanks to the release of the Drobo SDK, developers can now develop servers and other network apps for Drobo.

To demonstrate what's possible, the SDK includes a sample UPnP/DNLA server to provide streaming media to PS3, Xbox 360, and other compatible devices, a Linux version of the Drobo Dashboard control utility, and a Windows apps that displays the actual size of storage available in your Drobo configuration.

Joining the DroboApps Family

Data Robotics will launch a DroboApps website in the near future to feature applications from developers. So, if you're a developed excited about Drobo, get started by joining the developer community, which will enable you to download the Drobo SDK and sample apps.

Deals on Drobo

To get you started with Drobo, Data Robotics is currently offering special bundle prices on Drobo + 1TB Western Digital Green Power drives through its own DroboStore as well as major online vendors. Don't forget to grab a DroboShare as well if you want to put Drobo on the network.

Drobo Good? Drobo Bad? Feedback Wanted!

The comments section of the Endgadget story on Drobo's SDK features a vigorous discussion (translation: a knock-down, drag-out fight) about networking Drobo and alternatives. What say you? If you use Drobo and DroboShare, use an alternative, or have other useful comments, celebrate Independence Day by telling us exactly what you think.

Drobo+DroboShare image courtesy of Data Robotics.

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