Drobo

[brucky]

Hi all. Has anyone used the drobo (Data Robotics, Inc.) as a storage solution. If so your comments on how good it would be appriciated.

brucky

[Dave R.]

I don't have this storage, but if you click on the search feature and type in drobo, you will find several previous mentions of the product.

[Mr. Pickles]

Mr. Pickles really like the Drobo......no problems for me.

[Ben_V]

I evaluated the Drobo and decided against it. It looks nice on paper but has several drawbacks for my kind of use. First I need a NAS and the Drobo needs an add-on to do that. Than, there is simply no security during the time of rebuilding the RAID – that means anytime you change a hard disk or add a new one the Drobo works heavily and if something goes wrong during that time, all data are gone.

This security hole lead me to buying a "normal" RAID 6 NAS, which offers security even during rebuild. On top, it is MUCH faster than the Drobo in my network, reaching an average throughput of about 100 MByte/s.

Ben

[nyschulte]

another go for the drobo. if you need more security, you could go for the drobo pro

4 x 2 TB disks for a total of 5.1T net usable space. connected with FW800 to a macbook pro

As with any big disk, you should not forget to plan for backup (even more as when using smaller cap. disk where you can just use two of them), as any raid solution does not prevent user error.

[brucky]

thanks for all your advice.

[Gna]

Originally Posted by Ben_V

I evaluated the Drobo and decided against it. It looks nice on paper but has several drawbacks for my kind of use. First I need a NAS and the Drobo needs an add-on to do that. Than, there is simply no security during the time of rebuilding the RAID – that means anytime you change a hard disk or add a new one the Drobo works heavily and if something goes wrong during that time, all data are gone.

No, Ben: if you've got 2 mirrored HDs in the Drobo, and you replace one with a fresh/blank/empty one, and something goes wrong in the Drobo, you still have a complete backup on that HD you pulled out!
And with 3 or 4 HDs in the Drobo your data security is even better!

[Ben_V]

Originally Posted by Gna

No, Ben: if you've got 2 mirrored HDs in the Drobo, and you replace one with a fresh/blank/empty one, and something goes wrong in the Drobo, you still have a complete backup on that HD you pulled out!
And with 3 or 4 HDs in the Drobo your data security is even better!

A basic mirrored setup might work, RAID5 is not secure during rebuilding. For simple mirroring I would not need an external RAID cage, as basically any current OS supports that out of the box with a set of hds. The problem with the Drobo is really during the rebuilding phase, not during normal operations. During rebuilding it shifts data heavily between all internal disks and that leaves no safety margin – I tried it (removed a hd during rebuilding - all data gone)... But anyway - I found the Drobo out of the box too slow for my requirements.

I also tried a Buffalo Terastation, which I then ruled out, because firsttime initialisation and later rebuilding always took about 9 hours, during which the Terastation was more or less useless. Any kind of access is so slow during rebuilding, that it simply makes no sense.

I opted therefore for a hardware-based RAID 6 system. No internal software, no drivers, just real plug-and-play (no kidding, really...). When I pull out a hard disk or two (!), I can work without any noticeable loss of access speed. If the system then rebuilds, I can also work without any noticeable delay. That is one of the advantages of a hardware-based RAID - apart from pure work speed. I work always directly on the RAID and don't store any data on the internal disks of my Mac.

Ben

[brian.austin]

No RAID system is secure during rebuilding. It wasn't designed to be hot swapped DURING a rebuild phase.

No RAID system should be considered a "backup" in the truest sense. It's a redundant, relatively failsafe system. If it gets stolen or the house burns down, however, restoring isn't going to be an option. A true backup system is kept off-site in the event of a catastrophic disaster.

[SureFire]

Drobo's too proprietary for me. Look at these instead. Now, if they'd just implement RAID on the new dual.

[Gna]

Originally Posted by brian.austin

A true backup system is kept off-site in the event of a catastrophic disaster.

Which is why I have a RAID1 system (mirrored HDs) on-site, and a third HD off-site, which I physically exchange for one of the other two every few weeks to update it.
I think 3 mirrored HDs is a pretty safe backup system.

[Ben_V]

Originally Posted by brian.austin

No RAID system is secure during rebuilding. It wasn't designed to be hot swapped DURING a rebuild phase.

No RAID system should be considered a "backup" in the truest sense. It's a redundant, relatively failsafe system. If it gets stolen or the house burns down, however, restoring isn't going to be an option. A true backup system is kept off-site in the event of a catastrophic disaster.

I would support your notion about RAIDs not being intended as backups. That's clear. I have other backup devices besides my RAID, which essentially is my workspace.

MY RAID system IS secure during rebuilding, provided, that not more than 2 hds fail at the same time. Usually 1 hd dies and will then be replaced. During rebuilding of that, the data are completely safe. Even if 2 hds fail and are being rebuild, the system is safe - until a third drive would die. I did not trust the spec sheet with this, I tried it.

As I don't mention a brand name and the system insn't available overseas anyway, you would ne suspect me ofg making any kind of false advertising here.

Ben

[brian.austin]

Originally Posted by Gna

Which is why I have a RAID1 system (mirrored HDs) on-site, and a third HD off-site, which I physically exchange for one of the other two every few weeks to update it.
I think 3 mirrored HDs is a pretty safe backup system.

The only reason I don't like that system is that it's controller dependent. If the RAID system fails and you can't get the same controller system in time for a restore, are you sure you can get the data back?

[brian.austin]

Originally Posted by Ben_V

MY RAID system IS secure during rebuilding, provided, that not more than 2 hds fail at the same time. Usually 1 hd dies and will then be replaced. During rebuilding of that, the data are completely safe. Even if 2 hds fail and are being rebuild, the system is safe - until a third drive would die. I did not trust the spec sheet with this, I tried it.

If you've got two drives failing at the same time, you've probably got bigger problems than drive issues.

As I don't mention a brand name and the system insn't available overseas anyway, you would ne suspect me ofg making any kind of false advertising here.

Ben

I've built and used RAID systems from dozens of manufacturers for almost 20 years. All have their good and bad points. Welcome to computers.

[Ben_V]

Originally Posted by brian.austin

If you've got two drives failing at the same time, you've probably got bigger problems than drive issues.

That's too true. I had never such an occurance yet, except when the power supply developped some strange "habits"... But that was on another system in the long and distant past...

Ben