Bernskiold Media

The Drobo has become a big hit as one of the simplest RAID systems out there for storing your data. It is supposed to be a “backup robot” automatically sharing your files between the drives you put in, minimizing the risk for hard drive failure, in which case a red indicator light will let you know about it, so that you can exchange the drive.

Me and My Drobo

We were instantly friends, just for the peace of mind alone. Drobo is like the superhero that flys in with a red cape at the exact moment of need (be the need real or imagined) But like every relationship, only when you start spending quality time together do you find what exactly what it’s made of.  I have spent the past four weeks with Drobo, and am here to give you the tell-all account of the little robot that could –with a bit of help from tech support, drobo support, and a not too shabby techie, yours truly.

My need was real. Working on the Dell Studio XPS345 with a mirrored raid system of 640 GB with a 1TB automatic backup drive attached via USB worked well but it filled up fast. Literally pushed against the wall with less than 5% space on my storage harddrive (bad, very bad as your tech friends will tell you!)

I purchased my first Drobo S online. You can purchase Drobo from several authorized retailers online and if you’re one of the lucky few- locally. Drobo S fits 5 hardrives. You can purchase it as a bundle with drives already loaded into it or buy the robot empty and fill him yourself. Have extra harddrives lying around? Perfect! Put them to work! The Drobo can take different sizes and brands of hardrives. I decided on a bundle which was more cost effective and included my HD company of choice.  5 2TB drives filled my Drobo for an enjoyable 10TBs of space (about 7.4TB of usable storage room).

Plug (in the right cable) & Play

“Plug & Play” is one of the biggest advertised features of Drobo, no tech mess, just plug and it’s ready to roll (of course read the instructions first). I read the instructions, and when I was well educated on the ins and outs of Drobo & my system, I plugged in eSATA… nothing happened.

I plugged in USB and it became a live working Drobo. But USB is slow.  Turns out Drobo doesn’t like certain types of eSATA cards, mine in particular. (See DataRobotics support for information on supported eSATA cards DroboS does like.) It took on the up of about 8 hours to transfer 600GB of information using the USB connection. But it was working and I was happy about that. There is nothing that makes you feel more insecure as a professional than data that is not backed up.

After the backup was complete I had total access to all my data on Drobo. I also had the option to start regular back-ups to another location of my data via DroboCopy. This is one thing that gets overlooked by many people- Drobo stores and protects your data, but it does not (necessarily) back-up your data. It can protect against two hard drive failures by making your drives redundant and taking up more of your storage space. More on that here.

So even though Drobo is like a super hero, he needs a back-up. Take care of your data and back it up too.

Simplicity Talks

I have to commend the Drobo creators for the simplicity in which they created the Drobo language: lights. Once you speak fluent Drobo your heart will palpitate to these Drobo messages:

Green: No action required, all drives are healthy

Solid Orange: Replace this drive with a larger drive soon, Drobo is running out of space.

Blinking Orange and Green: Don’t remove these drives; Drobo is working to protect your data.

Solid Red: Replace this drive with a larger drive immediately, Drobo is critically low on space.

Blinking Red: Replace this drive immediately, this drive has failed and needs to be replaced.

Harddrive Failure Already?

Alright, it’s not Drobo’s fault, he performed like a hero, but seriously, 3 weeks into the game and a hard drive fails?! Needless to say, brand matters on your hard drive choice and though I did my research, my choice in Hitachi proved not to be a good one. The ominous blinking red and orange lights greeted me one morning- “Hard drive failed, working to protect your data.”

It was all I could do not to hover like a mother hen. I invested my data to Drobo and now it was the ultimate test, he was in there, fighting 1’s and 0’s  against corruption. There was nothing to do but sit back and wait. An entire day of waiting. Drobo came out victorious and my data is safe and sound. Big sigh of relief and I feel one stronger having lives through that.

Conclusion

Pros: Drobo pulls in some strong points for living up to its reputation and protecting my data when push came to shove- that is after all, the most important job for this little machine.

Cons: I am not happy that my eSATA card is not recognized and really, I’m more upset that prior to my purchase I never heard anything about eSATA stipulations. When they say eSATA compatible it needs an *asterisk because you or your techie is going to do some work to make it happen unless your machine is already compatible. Another glitch: DroboDashboard does not always recognize my Drobo even though I can access my data and it is indeed connected.

The Final Word: This machine lives up to its super hero hype and at the end of the day, your data is safe with Drobo.