Drobo - Is this what I'm looking for

[dinggus]

I'd like to have one huge enclosure for all my HDD's, that way I don't have multiple external HDD's being plugged in. I'm looking at the Drobo 4 Bay, and would like to put 4x3TB in it, is this what I'm looking for?

Is there cheaper alternatives?

 

[macbookairman]

In terms of ease of use, Drobo is great. However, their older models (the firewire ones) aren't the most reliable from what I've heard, and can become very slow -- this includes the Drobo 4 bay.

Their new models (Drobo Mini and 5D) are great and very fast thanks to Thunderbolt. I've got the Mini and I love it. The downside is the price. There are cheaper Raid units out there, but they aren't as simple to manage as Drobo. The Drobo is sort of a set it up and forget product, and they are very easy to expand.

Bottom line: If you can afford the 5D or Mini, I think Drobo is a good choice albeit pricy. If you can't do that, I'd suggest looking elsewhere, though you'll sacrifice ease of use.

Other cheaper options I can think of is this OWC RAID unit or Synology.

 

[dinggus]

Thanks for the response!

I'm looking for something simple and easy as I'm not familiar with this type of things. Plus, you're paying for the Drobo enclosure, correct?

As for Thunderbolt, I don't have that on my iMac, but I'll keep looking.

I found this Synology:
http://www.amazon.com/Synology-Stat...?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1356992382&sr=1-31

 

[macbookairman]

Thanks for the response!

I'm looking for something simple and easy as I'm not familiar with this type of things. Plus, you're paying for the Drobo enclosure, correct?

As for Thunderbolt, I don't have that on my iMac, but I'll keep looking.

I found this Synology:
http://www.amazon.com/Synology-Stat...?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1356992382&sr=1-31

Yep, Drobos are just the enclosure.

That Synology unit only uses 2.5" drives, which will limit your capacity. The biggest 2.5" drive you'll find is 1TB. I'm guessing you'd prefer a system that uses 3.5" drives, which would allow for much higher capacity.

 

[turtle777]

Is there cheaper alternatives?

Cheaper ? Not sure.

More reliable and faster ? Most certainly. Synology.

I had a Drobo for a year, and it ended in near-disaster.
Only after months I was able to recover most of my data.

Returned the Drobo, and got a Synology. MUCH faster, feels more reliable. If you do some search online, you'll find that Drobo's are not as stable as they make you believe.

-t

 

[dinggus]

Yep, Drobos are just the enclosure.

That Synology unit only uses 2.5" drives, which will limit your capacity. The biggest 2.5" drive you'll find is 1TB. I'm guessing you'd prefer a system that uses 3.5" drives, which would allow for much higher capacity.

Oops, thanks for catching that. I'm looking to hold around 12TB+.

Cheaper ? Not sure.

More reliable and faster ? Most certainly. Synology.

I had a Drobo for a year, and it ended in near-disaster.
Only after months I was able to recover most of my data.

Returned the Drobo, and got a Synology. MUCH faster, feels more reliable. If you do some search online, you'll find that Drobo's are not as stable as they make you believe.

-t

Which one do you have?

 

[BrianBaughn]

If you've got existing drives you want to put in a NAS, you'd better check whether or not they're compatible, or at least recommended, for the NAS.

 

[dinggus]

If you've got existing drives you want to put in a NAS, you'd better check whether or not they're compatible, or at least recommended, for the NAS.

Thanks, I figured I'd just buy new HDD's and place them in, then sell the externals.