Drobo 5D vs Pegasus J4

[MaxDaddy]

I know, they're different animals. But here's my dilemma.

27" iMac with 3tb fusion drive. I don't have 3tbs of data yet but would like to get a setup for time machine that doesn't require me to make wholesale changes later.

If going with the 5D I would start with a couple of 3tb drives. Leaving ample room for growth as i approach the 3tb limit on the iMac. Understanding the time machine requires more than 3tb to backup 3tb. Cost is probably a little over 1k, I think.

A concern with the Drobo is restoring. I'd like to setup the new device as the time machine target on the MacBook Pro I'll be replacing, back it up and then attach to the brand new iMac for initial setup. Both of these steps would be using
USB I guess. Can I then switch to thunderbolt on the new iMac? And if I have a failure and have to restore the system from the Drobo can I do that using thunderbolt? Wouldn't it be an issue that the newly restored system wouldn't have the Drobo thunderbolt drivers installed yet?

Other option is the J4. This would be my choice over the Drobo mini because of cost mainly. The problem here is that I can only get the J4 with a max of 4tb because of the 2.5" drives (there may be larger drives, not entirely sure). If 2tb drives do exist later I'd have to swat out all four. And if the larger drives are only 1.5tb them the total of 3 in Raid1 wouldn't allow time machine to back up the whole HD.

I want a solution that lets me reliably back up the complete 3tb HD with time capsule and have redundancy.

Cost of roughly 1k or less is the budget.

 

[NorCalLights]

I would get the 5D... I have an older Drobo that has been working like a champ for a few years now. The flexibility to use any capacity drives when you upgrade is great. You can use any of the interfaces, so yes you could start with USB and then later use Thunderbolt.

However, you might think about a simpler backup system. You could get a 4TB USB drive (from whatever manufacturer you prefer) for a few hundred dollars to run your Time Machine backup, and then sign up for an online backup solution (I use Backblaze) for your offsite backup. That way you'll get true redundancy by having one backup located elsewhere.

Even with the monthly costs, it'll be a long while before you end up spending $1000.

 

[MaxDaddy]

I would get the 5D... I have an older Drobo that has been working like a champ for a few years now. The flexibility to use any capacity drives when you upgrade is great. You can use any of the interfaces, so yes you could start with USB and then later use Thunderbolt.

However, you might think about a simpler backup system. You could get a 4TB USB drive (from whatever manufacturer you prefer) for a few hundred dollars to run your Time Machine backup, and then sign up for an online backup solution (I use Backblaze) for your offsite backup. That way you'll get true redundancy by having one backup located elsewhere.

Even with the monthly costs, it'll be a long while before you end up spending $1000.

Currently I use Backblaze and a 1tb Time Capsule. My thought on the Raid system is having a true full recovery option with redundancy. I guess I could do two externals and have time machine alternate.

Backblaze is good for data, and I'll continue to use it, but it won't back up my applications. And I'm thinking restoring things like iPhoto from it could be a task.

With 3tbs of data what configuration of drives should I use in the drobo? And what mode should I run it in?

 

[NorCalLights]

http://drobo.com/products/capacity-calculator/#Drobo5Bay

Use whatever drive capacity is cheap these days, and adds up to your desired "Available for Data" size. I think Apple suggests double the amount of data you're trying to back up for Time Machine. With Drobo you can always add more capacity later.

There are no "Modes" on my Drobo... just load it up with disks and plug it in. I guess the new ones have a mode that will protect you against two simultaneous drive failures, which seems like overkill if you're also backing up to Backblaze. But that's up to you.

 

[Outrigger]

It seems to me the OP just wants a time machine backup system. Using drobos/pegasus is highly overkill for your usage. If all you want to do is use time machine, then there are much cheaper solutions such as external USB 3 or even firewire since the bandwidth won't be the bottleneck. What your suggesting of doing is similar to killing a fly with an RPG when cheaper solutions will accomplish the exact same thing for you.

 

[talmy]

My thought on the Raid system is having a true full recovery option with redundancy. I guess I could do two externals and have time machine alternate.

It's not the type of redundancy you want for a backup. Backup redundancy means having multiple backups. Try two alternating external drives, cloned from the internal (using CarbonCopyCloner or SuperDuper) with at least one being kept off-site. And a third external drive for TimeMachine. Restrict it to only back up areas of the drive that are being used for work-in-progress and it won't get big. Performance (for any of the drives) won't be an issue. Even USB2 drives would be fine.

I go a step beyond that with a cloud backup of important files.