Data Robotics new DroboPro

[hmurchison]

8-Bays
iSCSI, USB and Firewire
$1300 empty.

I wonder what kind of performance they're going to get out of this box.

http://www.drobo.com/products/drobopro/index.php

Comes with MS initiator and some OS X initiator that remains unnamed.

 

[germ]

It's funny that plain Ethernet is not mentioned as an available interface. They say "iSCSI (utilizes Gigabit Ethernet)" everywhere. What does that mean? Can you not just connect without iSCSI?

I still don't trust their non-standard RAID from the reliability point of view.

 

[iwod]

If it was an NAS, it would be a good deal as well. But as far as i can tell , the Ethernet port is only used for iSCSI.

The problem with iSCSI is that every single partition/ or virtual drive can only be accessed by one initiators at the same time. In theory everyone could have their own little network drive. But they will not be able to share content.

I really like iSCSI recently, its speed is amazing.

 

[hmurchison]

If it was an NAS, it would be a good deal as well. But as far as i can tell , the Ethernet port is only used for iSCSI.

The problem with iSCSI is that every single partition/ or virtual drive can only be accessed by one initiators at the same time. In theory everyone could have their own little network drive. But they will not be able to share content.

I really like iSCSI recently, its speed is amazing.

Exactly it doesn't make sense to not have NAS functionality especially given that 8 total bays give you flexiblity to run multiple RAID sets and designate storage for NAS and SAN functionality.

Though for the geeky enthusiast I suppose a small computer like a Mac mini or Dell Studio One could be inserted as a NAS front end but then that's another expense and device to manage.

I wonder if they plan on offering the NAS functionality via software as an optional expense?

 

[corndog]

Drobo's storage mechanism is quite innovative and very good. I have run an original Drobo for well over a year now, and have added and removed many drives - never lost a single bit of data on it.

However, the drobo's out so far have been painfully slow. Especially compared with the not new stuff from Netgear and QNAP.

DRI released the DroboShare to put the Drobo on a network - it basically proved one thing - DRI doesn't have any idea how to make a NAS.

My opinion folks - don't ask for NAS functionality from DRI. Just let them concentrate on storage. Their solution is similar in a few ways to ZFS (RAID-like redundancy for only the actual data - not the whole disk) but they have it all packaged up in a nice people-friendly package, which ZFS does not.

 

[iwod]

Drobo's storage mechanism is quite innovative and very good. I have run an original Drobo for well over a year now, and have added and removed many drives - never lost a single bit of data on it.

However, the drobo's out so far have been painfully slow. Especially compared with the not new stuff from Netgear and QNAP.

DRI released the DroboShare to put the Drobo on a network - it basically proved one thing - DRI doesn't have any idea how to make a NAS.

My opinion folks - don't ask for NAS functionality from DRI. Just let them concentrate on storage. Their solution is similar in a few ways to ZFS (RAID-like redundancy for only the actual data - not the whole disk) but they have it all packaged up in a nice people-friendly package, which ZFS does not.

ZFS with ease of use is what exactly i have been hoping Apple would come up with.
Honestly Drobo doesn't look that good.... It is ok for 2 Bay, but the Pro Version hardly looks Pro at all.

And i could get a fast NAS from QNAP for similar price.....why Drobo Pro then?

 

[corndog]

ZFS with ease of use is what exactly i have been hoping Apple would come up with.
Honestly Drobo doesn't look that good.... It is ok for 2 Bay, but the Pro Version hardly looks Pro at all.

And i could get a fast NAS from QNAP for similar price.....why Drobo Pro then?

To be honest, the QNAP and NetGear solutions are so capable and powerful these days that it's in my opinion a long shot to convince someone to get a Drobo Pro. One of Drobo's big sales pitches is that their "BeyondRAID" solution is so much easier and "non-technical" than RAID. However, I find that QNAP and NetGear make RAID about just as easy as a Drobo. And there is a definite benefit to the fact that RAID has been "beaten up and improved" for almost 20 years, meaning it is quite reliable by now.

The drobo is still a step easier, however - it is completely bone-headedly simple. But I think there is a dubious need for that level of simplicity in a "Pro" setting, because Pros normally know about their stuff.

 

[Armornone]

if you lose power, all your data is lost with drobo i heard.

 

[corndog]

I'd have to beg to differ with that.

When I got my DroboShare (which I absolutely hate for other reasons) it came with a power cable splitter - so you could run both the Drobo and the DroboShare off the original wall wart that came with the Drobo. Only thing - as documented by many many complaints on the DroboSpace forums, the power cable splitter was loose - it would fall out of the back of the Drobo way too easily.

Because of this I lost power on my Drobo many many times. I never lost a single byte of data on it, however.

 

[hmurchison]

My thoughts have changed on DroboPro

When I tried to stop comparing it's intentions with a standard RAID system and started looking at it from an "OOBE" (Out Of Box Experience) I see Drobo as offering a different value prop. It would be the one storage system that would feel comfortable sending to my mother knowing I'd likely not have to make a service call.

Hopefully they can continue to evolve the product and make it even more stable.

 

[drbiggly]

I like the idea of the new DroboPro and that one can add the additional disk redundancy as an option.

Anyone know if the DroboPro can be added to the end of a Time Capsule (via USB)? If so and you have a house or small business full of Macs, this would provide silly amounts of storage for quite a long term.

Most small businesses now, unless running a custom package, either outsource or have web-based software for about everything. Entirely conceivable for small businesses to go Mac-only. Just an idea.

 

[Armornone]

Is there anyway to make a DIY Drobo using either software or hardware RAID with your own equipment.

I would love to use all my hard drives of Random sizes into 1 large safe array bu so far Drobo seems to be the only company that does this.

Is there any software or hardware cards out there to mirror this ability?

Thanks

 

[corndog]

That's just it - the Drobo doesn't really do RAID. They call it "BeyondRAID". Worth reading about it on their site.

There are a lot of requests in their forums for a "DroboCard" - basically a BeyondRAID card that you put in your computer and hook your drives up to it. That would allow you to use their tech in your own DIY NAS. No idea if they'll bring anything like that out though...

 

[flamaest]

OMG, 1300 bucks and all you get are empty bays and no NIC!

Just get a ReadyNAS already and throw this DROBO into the river.

With these specs and real-world speed issues, these DROBO products were all destined to a landfill since day one.

 

[Johan_F]

Just get a ReadyNAS already and throw this DROBO into the river.

Not exactly so flamaest.
We are struggling with Netgear ReadyNAS Pro and the 2 TB max file size limit. With Apple Time Machine the max size of all files together is limited to 2 TB with the ReadyNAS even if you have 12 TB of disks (6x2 TB) because Netgear has selected the Ext3 file system ...

Netgear states "... Macintosh files to be used without limitations. It also supports Apple Time Machine ..."

However, DroboPro does not suffer from this serious limitation.

Would you like to give us a DroboPro instead of putting it into a landfill? Then you will get our ReadyNAS Pro Pioneer instead of we storing it in our closet.

 

[corndog]

Just lost 3TB of data on my DroboPro last night. I have backups, but the things is so slow it will take days to restore it all...

 

[Johan_F]

DroboPro worse than other RAID system?

Hi corndog,
Is this DroboPro worse or less reliable than any comparable unit?
3 TB takes a while no matter which unit you have.
There are some rather negative feedback about the DroboPro around on the Internet. But it is hard to see if the problems are solved or not by upgrades of OS, software and firmware.

We are searching for a unit which can backup at least 4 TB from a Mac with Time Machine and thought about the DroboPro. The built-in program for Netgear ReadyNAS cannot do more than 2 TB.

Another unit we consider is the QNAP TS-809 Pro. It will probably make it. However, it seems to lack the possibility to expand by replacing a few disks with larger ones. You have to replace all disks (up to 8) to gain more storage if I understand it correctly. Netgear has their "X-RAID2 and Drobo has their "BeyondRAID" technology which makes it possible to grow by replacing one disk at a time. I find this a good advantage.

DroboPro on the other hand lacks the NAS functionality.

Please share your thoughts. I'm sitting here with a ReadyNAS which is half filled but m Mac says the disk is full ...

 

[corndog]

Hi Johan,

Normally I would always recommend the ReadyNAS hands down - I've run them for years and had nothing but wonderful experience - never lost any data on a ReadyNAS, even when I had those infamous 1.5TB drives going bad on me. You have run into something I never tried on the ReadyNAS - the 2TB limit on Time Machine. I use a real TimeCapsule to back up my Macs - not the ReadyNAS.

However, I would definitely recommend a QNAP as the next best option. QNAP's devices are incredibly well made, very reliable, and FAST! Personally I don't think the lack of ability to gradually increase size one drive at a time is a big enough downside to walk away from all the benefits of QNAP, but your mileage may vary.

About the Drobo Pro - I can't explain why, but I patiently keep trying and trying to get some good reliability and performance out of it. I have lost my data on it 3 times now, and I keep coming back and trying again every time they come out with a new firmware. In principle I believe BeyondRAID to be a very promising technology (RAID is over 20 years old now, so something new is good), but I have to say the implementations so far are VERY lacking. To summarize, I just simply can't trust my DroboPro.

So my recommendation would be:
1. ReadyNAS Pro
2. QNAP 639Pro if you just can't use ReadyNAS
3. Don't take the chance on the DroboPro - not yet anyway

 

[Johan_F]

Hi corndog,
Thank you for taking your time to write the extensive answer.

I think the ReadyNAS should be a very good RAID unit to us if they just had solved the 2 TB file problem. Unfortunately the .sparsebundle for Time Machine is limited to 2 TB with the Ext3 file system even if the backed files are only 8 MB each.

Netgear says they are working on a solution to migrate to Ext4 and it was expected to come in the next software revision around last April but they have since sent three revisions of their RAIDiator software without being able to fix it.

I appreciate that Netgear has an open forum and they tolerate even negative opinions and discussions without deleting posts. The same seems to apply to the QNAP forum.

In contrast the DroboPro forum seems to be locked if you haven't got a valid serial number of a Drobo unit.

These Internet forums are worth gold for people like us who are dealing with complicated things and where we need specific information separated from the colored ads from the manufacturers marketing departments.