Is Drobo still one of the best storage solutions? Other questions too.

I love my Drobo/Droboshare!

Hi Keith - Thanks for finally jumping into the conversations here on CA. Drobo is still one of the easiest storage solutions. I recently discovered a different solution that is even simpler and has great flexibility in terms of disks etc...

If you want to directly connect the disks to you server via USB, FireWire 400 or 800, or eSATA then I recommend looking at the DataTale http://oyendigital.com/hard-drives/store/RS-M4QO.html

This device doesn't have any software configuration. RAID and the number of disks are configured by two sets of simple dip switches on the back. The only hesitation is noise I don't know how audible the unit would be in your environment. If you can store drives behind a wall like I do then noise isn't really an issue.

This unit allows you to purchase the enclosure only and purchase whatever drives you want from anyone you want. You can also order the whole thing from Oyen.

This really looks nice. Again, thanks for your website. It has already saved me from making some big mistakes. I still have many choices to make and it's good to know I can get answers here.

Keith

Here are a couple of alternatives to the DataTale Direct Attached Storage (DAS) unit. Like the DataTale, they hold 4 drives and have multiple RAID modes and interfaces. Anyone have experience with or comments about these?

Promise Technology DS4600: About $370 diskless or $800 with 4x1TB drives.
Pros: They publish a disk drive compatibility list. Enterprise-class drives with TLER (Time-Limited Error Recovery) are recommended.
This unit is sold by the Apple Store, so should be qualified for Macs.

LaCie 4TB 4big. Can be bought for $657 (B&H Photo Video) with drives.
Pros: Claims to have given much design attention to making the fan quiet.
Also sold by the Apple Store, so should be qualified for Macs.
Cons: Not sold without drives. They choose the drive model. You don't know what it is until you get your hands on one. If a drive needs replacement, you are supposed to contact LaCie.

DataTale 4-bay: About $300 diskless.
Cons: No drive compatibility list. This is a concern because of the TLER issue discussed in another CA thread.

Ray

One thing I'm not sure if was mentioned in this thread, and unsure if the others support, but one of the points with the Drobo is that drives don't have to be identical in size where as with most RAID solutions they do.

I.e. you can start with 1x 1TB drives in a Drobo giving you 1TB usuable space. Later you can add a 2TB drive and (without user intervention) the available storage increases to 1.8TB.

I'm unsure if any of the other drives mentioned support this kind of feature.

Eloise

DROBO - Head-to-head with Traditional RAID check this:
http://www.drobo.com/resources/beyondraid.php

and calculator for available space this :

http://www.drobo.com/calculator/drobo-s/index.php .

I use two DROBOs (actually 3 backups) for 2 years and never a single problem.
Everything is done automatically, also one of the quietest .
If you have a huge library i.e. > 2TB - highly recommended.
(I believe having two backups is minimum necessary to avoid a disaster of losing the data).

Having followed Computer Audiophile with interest and appreciation, in equal measure since its inception (the 90% community, according to the 90-9-1 Principle; http://www.90-9-1.com/), I'm pleased to finally emerge from stealth and join the conversation.

Given the criticality of data to a computer audiophile (not to mention, risk associated with a MacBook Pro repository which belongs to my employer), I envision a reliable, performant, cost-effective network storage solution as the foundation for my computer audio system. An IT industry veteran of more than 30 years, I'm mindful of GIGO (Garbage In, Garbage Out) whether grinding coffee or listening to music. Owing to yuppie roots too, only the best for my dog - err, future DAC will do.

So which NAS then? As you might imagine after countless hours of research, absorbing innumerable opinions, I have a perspective on Data Robotics (DROBO), Netgear (ReadyNAS), QNAP, Synology and Thecus. In short, they're all good; some are better. Like the engineer's lament, pick any two of good, fast, and cheap.

Motivated by its inclusion on the C.A.S.H. List, the ONNTO DataTale was similarly subjected to my virtual scrutiny today. Ever more value-conscious, I have to say it looks good from far - however a "Very Important Manufacturer Support Notice" here http://www.cooldrives.com/ra4xhddto133.html makes it look far from good. Caveat emptor. (Disclosure: I have no conflict of interest whatsoever in sharing this information.)

Thanks everyone, especially Chris, for the ongoing education. I'll see you on the bit stream.

Brian

I have had a drobo for a couple of years. It has been quiet and reliable however every version of their drobo dashboard I have tried so far has had big problems, from hanging startup to strange disconnection. This is the least stable software I have ever used.
I have lost no data and removing their software has been the solution. The drobo works fine without for the last few months but is slow by modern standards.
Frank

Literally 30 seconds ago I unboxed a new Synology DS710+ NAS in for review. I really like what these guys are offering and hope to have a thorough review published in due time.

Hi Guys - I did some additional research on the potential Onnto issue described on the Cool Drives site. The situation may not be what Cool Drive's says it is. A few years ago there was an issue with a power supply for an older 3.5-inch Onnto enclosure. This issue was addressed by Onnto and new power supplies were provided to customers. In addition, Cool Drives was an Onnto dealer until Onnto removed them. There apparently was an issue with Cool Drives undercutting other Onnto dealers.

Have the Drobo FS here with three 1TB WD Green drives. Easy to set-up (about 10 mins from sliding the drives into the Drobo to actually transferring files from my old NAS to the Drobo). Fast and dead quiet. Easy and fool-proof.

An IT acquaintance of mine recently put the fear of God in me regarding my Drobo. He said that while it's true that it automatically mirrors files, it's still possible for corruption to enter both sets of files and cause all kinds of problems. He suggested a completely separate drive to automatically do backup using Time Machine. I'm wondering if anyone else has an opinion about this. Is he just being an over-zealous nervous nelly or would I be tempting fate by ignoring his advise? Also, my problem is that I have an older Mac Mini without Time Machine. Can anyone suggest a good program that will automatically backup from my Drobo, something that will monitor the files and backup what's newly added?

Drobo, like all RAID systems, only protects you from one thing - a drive dying. It is possible for either the drive enclosure, or the operating systems, or by user error for the data to become corrupted - no RAID system will protect you from this. With a lot of RAID arrays you can't even just swap the 3/4/5 drives into a new enclosure if you have a problem.

Having a backup on a simple USB drive is a good solution, though you may need several to back up a large Drobo.

Check out Superduper for backup on an older Mac - TimeMachine isn't really suitable for backing up Music anyway.

Eloise

I went out and got an extra hard drive and backed my Drobo up using SuperDuper. Very simple to use, except I had one glitch. After backing up, when I went to launch iTunes, I got a message that read, "The folder 'iTunes' is on a locked disc or you do not have write permission." After some research, I found this solution: Right clicked on the Drobo icon, clicked "Get info" and checked "Ignore ownership on this volume" at very bottom of box. That fixed it. Thanks again for pointing me in the direction of SuperDuper. It's one of the most user-friendly programs I've encountered.

Eloise,

You are absolutely correct. That is the reason I said RAID is the wrong solution for music server unless you need more than 2TB of storage which is the current limitation of a single drive.

You are absolutely correct. That is the reason I said RAID is the wrong solution for music server unless you need more than 2TB of storage which is the current limitation of a single drive.

Not for long.

Seagate Breaks Capacity Ceiling With World’s First 3 Terabyte External Desktop Drive

This is good news. Does anyone know if it's actually a 3TB drive or Seagate is using compression to obtain the equivalent of 3TB worth of storage? The reason I ask is this drive is external only and not for sale as a standalone disk for internal or external storage. Plus, this technique has been used in the past.

Usually drive sizes go up by 250GB or even 500GB not the big jump to 3TB from 2TB.

Its real: http://www.crunchgear.com/2010/07/01/hands-on-the-seagate-freeagent-gofl... But there may be a real problem using it: http://enterprise.media.seagate.com/category/3tb/ The second story discussed a core problem- addressing more than 2.1 TB of data on a single drive. There may need to be a return to some of the kludges of the past to access all of the data.

And think of the many hours to reload all that data when the drive fails! For me RAID1 for media storage is the minimum option. preferably on two separate machines.

>TimeMachine isn't really suitable for backing up Music anyway.

Why do you say that?