Reasonable RAID 1 NAS That Doesn't Suck?

[johnjay1776]

I'd like to know if any of you fellow Mac users out there have come across a reasonably priced (below $600.00) RAID 1 NAS enclosure that doesn't suck? I looked at the Drobo but the Drobo Share reviews that I've read all state that the device is slow as molasses. A few of the devices that I've seen on NewEgg also don't rate very well in terms of speed. Suggestions?

Right now, I have an entire Windows PC set up just for sharing two sets of drives in a RAID 1 configuration. I have two 1Tb drives and two 250Gb drives. I'd like to keep all the drives if possible but I'm betting that the only solution is the Drobo ... ... ...

What about the rest of you Drobo users out there? Does the Drobo Share "cut it" for you in terms of speed? Thanks.

 

[geoffreak]

I own a Drobo and connect it directly to my Mac Mini via Firewire 800 and can tell you that it isn't as slow as people claim it is. What is slow is the USB connection to the DroboShare. Just connect it via Firewire 800 and you won't have a problem.
I do experience slowdowns when I try and stream video content to two computers over the same network though. I suspect that this has more to do with the fact that the files being requested are in different segments of the disks. It has no trouble streaming 1080p content of a moderate bit rate.
Don't forget that solutions like the Drobo or any NAS are long term storage and backup solutions and aren't intended to be used in environments that need fast speeds. If you really want fast speeds, you will need to run a server like a Mac Pro or Xserve.

 

[fhall1]

I use a Thecus N2100...it has Gig-E connections which are pretty snappy (assuming the rest of your network supports Gig speed). I've had mine for a couple years now with no issues connecting from my Macs or PCs