Are drobos finally performing better?

rawdawg · Jan 31, 2013, 11:08 PM

Please excuse the blunt question. But I am in need for an easy redundant and large disk solution (read: easy). I've known about Drobo for years and have read countless reports on it's insanely slow read/writes and the days it took to rebuild. To the point where I wondered how their marketing team found an angle to convince others to even purchase them.

After taking another look tonight it seems things may have changed. At least on the site I was looking at tonight I was seeing 200+MB/s read speeds.

Can anyone say they are actually getting 100+MB/s read/write speeds on their Drobo? If so it will perform better than any of my single HDD docks that have been doing the task of juggling multiple HDDs and it may be time to go with a multiple drive solution.

Giuly · Feb 1, 2013, 03:39 AM

The Drobo 5D is basically a standalone hardware Fusion Drive, using a mSATA SSD to speed things up.
As such, they will hit even 300MB/s read speeds, but only for commonly accessed data - just like Apple's Fusion Drive. However, you can add more 2.5" SSDs to speed things up even further when accessing the hard drive section.

rawdawg · Feb 1, 2013, 05:29 AM

That would explain the suddenly much higher reported read/write speeds. Is this to say the data stored on the HDDs are incredibly slow like their earlier (non-fusion style) drives?

I am looking to backup large media files (nothing smaller than 25MB each and up to GBs).

Giuly · Feb 1, 2013, 12:09 PM

Well, according to Drobo, outside of the SSD speeds, the Drobo 5D is supposed to be 4x faster than the Drobo S.

rawdawg · Feb 1, 2013, 12:58 PM

Thank you, Giuly, for your input. I saw that on their site. Unfortunately, as exciting as their products seem, I believe the speeds they've claimed in the past have been incredibly exaggerated.

Anyone may correct me if I'm wrong, but in the past years when I've researched their past Drobo's they've claimed high speeds but literally every review I've read said the speeds were ridiculously low. Of course I don't remember specifics, but I thought read/write speeds in real world tests were ~20/MBs far below what they've claimed. Which is why I always thought it was ridiculous they even bothered touting FW800 or especially eSATA (aside from connectivity) because their speeds appeared to be well below USB 2.0.

Again, anyone please chime in if they've had another experience.

itsamacthing · Feb 1, 2013, 09:09 PM

I'm having a tough time believing drobo... Sadly

StevethePirate · Feb 1, 2013, 10:21 PM

Performing better? Probably, but only by a fraction of the amount they claim

Reliable? = Same as before = Not very

Tech Support? = Non-existant

source: former owner of 4 different Drobo units. Since moved to Synology and never had a problem.

ctyrider · Feb 2, 2013, 01:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Giuly

Drobo 5D is supposed to be 4x faster than the Drobo S.

Don't waste your money - this thing is $850 without any drives, just a bare bones enclosure. That's insane.

OP, do yourself a favor and get a couple of 4TB WD drives. You can connect them up in a RAID set at an OS level, without dropping a grand on a useless Drobo enclosure.

g4cube · Feb 3, 2013, 01:16 PM

Here is a comprehensive review of Drobo, compared to alternatives.

Judge for yourself.

http://fortysomethinggeek.blogspot.f...lt-review.html

sfxguy · Feb 3, 2013, 09:51 PM

If you want a high speed direct attached system, your only other option is the Promise Pegasus.

I went with the Drobo 5D and am getting between 300-400MB/s and don't have an Msata in it, just 5 4tb 7200 drives.

If you don't need that league of devices transfer rates, Synology makes great units.

turtle777 · Feb 3, 2013, 11:07 PM

After owning a Drobo for a year, and now owning a Synology, I don't see a reason to ever go back to a Drobo.

-t

ctyrider · Feb 4, 2013, 12:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sfxguy

just 5 4tb 7200 drives.

Curious, what does one do with 16TB of storage these days?

[edit: just realized - you handle gives out a clue.. special effects video editing?]

Tanax · Feb 4, 2013, 02:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ctyrider

Don't waste your money - this thing is $850 without any drives, just a bare bones enclosure. That's insane.

OP, do yourself a favor and get a couple of 4TB WD drives. You can connect them up in a RAID set at an OS level, without dropping a grand on a useless Drobo enclosure.

And how much is the Pegasus R4 with 4x1TB? Oh wait, 1000$.
That's just normal pricing of Thunderbolt - insanely high. So Drobo's aren't really any different from any of those.

Jan 31, 2013, 11:08 PM	#1
rawdawg macrumors 6502 Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Brooklyn	Are drobos finally performing better? Please excuse the blunt question. But I am in need for an easy redundant and large disk solution (read: easy). I've known about Drobo for years and have read countless reports on it's insanely slow read/writes and the days it took to rebuild. To the point where I wondered how their marketing team found an angle to convince others to even purchase them. After taking another look tonight it seems things may have changed. At least on the site I was looking at tonight I was seeing 200+MB/s read speeds. Can anyone say they are actually getting 100+MB/s read/write speeds on their Drobo? If so it will perform better than any of my single HDD docks that have been doing the task of juggling multiple HDDs and it may be time to go with a multiple drive solution. __________________ “Socialism never took root in America because the poor see themselves not as an exploited proletariat but as temporarily embarrassed millionaires" -- John Steinbeck
	0

Feb 1, 2013, 05:29 AM	#3
rawdawg Thread Starter macrumors 6502 Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Brooklyn	That would explain the suddenly much higher reported read/write speeds. Is this to say the data stored on the HDDs are incredibly slow like their earlier (non-fusion style) drives? I am looking to backup large media files (nothing smaller than 25MB each and up to GBs). __________________ “Socialism never took root in America because the poor see themselves not as an exploited proletariat but as temporarily embarrassed millionaires" -- John Steinbeck
	0

Feb 1, 2013, 12:58 PM	#5
rawdawg Thread Starter macrumors 6502 Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Brooklyn	Thank you, Giuly, for your input. I saw that on their site. Unfortunately, as exciting as their products seem, I believe the speeds they've claimed in the past have been incredibly exaggerated. Anyone may correct me if I'm wrong, but in the past years when I've researched their past Drobo's they've claimed high speeds but literally every review I've read said the speeds were ridiculously low. Of course I don't remember specifics, but I thought read/write speeds in real world tests were ~20/MBs far below what they've claimed. Which is why I always thought it was ridiculous they even bothered touting FW800 or especially eSATA (aside from connectivity) because their speeds appeared to be well below USB 2.0. Again, anyone please chime in if they've had another experience. __________________ “Socialism never took root in America because the poor see themselves not as an exploited proletariat but as temporarily embarrassed millionaires" -- John Steinbeck
	0

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Feb 1, 2013, 03:39 AM	#2
Giuly macrumors 68030 Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: That depends whether you ask for timezone, state of mind or GPS coordinates.	The Drobo 5D is basically a standalone hardware Fusion Drive, using a mSATA SSD to speed things up. As such, they will hit even 300MB/s read speeds, but only for commonly accessed data - just like Apple's Fusion Drive. However, you can add more 2.5" SSDs to speed things up even further when accessing the hard drive section.
	0

Feb 1, 2013, 12:09 PM	#4
Giuly macrumors 68030 Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: That depends whether you ask for timezone, state of mind or GPS coordinates.	Well, according to Drobo, outside of the SSD speeds, the Drobo 5D is supposed to be 4x faster than the Drobo S.
	0

Feb 1, 2013, 09:09 PM	#6
itsamacthing macrumors 6502 Join Date: Sep 2011	I'm having a tough time believing drobo... Sadly
	0

Feb 1, 2013, 10:21 PM	#7
StevethePirate Banned Join Date: Jan 2013	Performing better? Probably, but only by a fraction of the amount they claim Reliable? = Same as before = Not very Tech Support? = Non-existant source: former owner of 4 different Drobo units. Since moved to Synology and never had a problem.
	0

Feb 3, 2013, 01:16 PM	#9
g4cube macrumors regular Join Date: Apr 2003	Here is a comprehensive review of Drobo, compared to alternatives. Judge for yourself. http://fortysomethinggeek.blogspot.f...lt-review.html
	0

Feb 3, 2013, 09:51 PM	#10
sfxguy macrumors member Join Date: Oct 2011 Location: Los Angeles	If you want a high speed direct attached system, your only other option is the Promise Pegasus. I went with the Drobo 5D and am getting between 300-400MB/s and don't have an Msata in it, just 5 4tb 7200 drives. If you don't need that league of devices transfer rates, Synology makes great units.
	0

Feb 3, 2013, 11:07 PM	#11
turtle777 macrumors 6502 Join Date: Apr 2004	After owning a Drobo for a year, and now owning a Synology, I don't see a reason to ever go back to a Drobo. -t
	0