Sick Computer

[Melbosa]

And from what I understand, Drobo doesn't really use RAID, just RAID-like technology.  For instance, disks can be all sizes and all of each disk gets used.

Here is the explanation of BeyondRAID =- Drobo's coined term for their storage virtualization system: http://www.drobo.com/resources/beyondraid.php

[Tom]

And from what I understand, Drobo doesn't really use RAID, just RAID-like technology.  For instance, disks can be all sizes and all of each disk gets used.

Here is the explanation of BeyondRAID =- Drobo's coined term for their storage virtualization system: http://www.drobo.com/resources/beyondraid.php

It's a really cool technology. Similar to how I bet ZFS and Btrfs work. Most file systems REALLY don't like to be resized dynamically, though it is possible, its quite error prone, so the easiest way to support their feature set is to have a custom files ystem. But that's just a guess on my part. You get RAID like features, Dynamic Volumes, and should they expand the feature-set, Volume/FS snapshots, Data De-duplication, and maybe Over Provisioning. Something makes me think they might have an enterprise product that supports those last three features (they are killer features).

[Thorin]

Yes it's nice to know the files are on a redundant system.  It's also nice to know that they're not all coming off one computer, so I can turn all the computers off without interfering with each other (well, once I find a way to network my USB-attached printer).  When I stop to think about it, it's amazing how many devices are hooked up to my network that can all now get files from <robot voice>DROBO1</robot voice>: 2 desktops, 2 laptops, 2 iPhones, an iPod Touch, and an Xbox.  And soon there'll be another laptop as well.

Hmm, I wonder how having the My Documents folder pointed to the Drobo would work for a laptop if that laptop was out and about at a coffee shop or something?  I might need to leave the laptops' My Documents folders local to the laptops.  Which means there's a location where people will probably save files which will not be protected...

[Lazybones]

Hmm, I wonder how having the My Documents folder pointed to the Drobo would work for a laptop if that laptop was out and about at a coffee shop or something?  I might need to leave the laptops' My Documents folders local to the laptops.  Which means there's a location where people will probably save files which will not be protected...

There are a few ways to do this on a domain, however for a home setup you might want to look at doing the following (haven't tried on a non domain computer)
1. Change the path of your my documents folder to the network path. There will be an option that will move the files there... Note this will be slow if it has lots of data
2. Configure the Offline Files feature
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ff633429%28WS.10%29.aspx

Note you should investigate the pros and cons of this... Mostly with the sync times at log in and log out...

[Darren Dirt]

Drobo 'splained in 3 minutes
http://www.drobo.com/resources/drobodemo.php (more here: http://www.youtube.com/user/DataRobotics )

[Darren Dirt]

I RMA'd my drives a week ago, and they arrived on Friday.  So Saturday, I ended up buying a Drobo FS from Memory Express for $630+tax; no more sitting around thinking about whether to build a server or not.  I got the Drobo home, read the short manual, shoved in the drives, installed Drobo Dashboard, and turned it on.  It's hooked to my network, so I don't need any specific computers turned on.

Just cruius, why did you go for http://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/PID-MX28444(ME).aspx

instead of http://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/PID-MX21524(ME).aspx

?

[Melbosa]

I'm going to guess for Thorin it was Networking and 1 more bay expansion... Probably mostly networking ability.

[Melbosa]

Consumer Model Comparison: http://www.drobodrives.com/compare-drobo/

[Mr. Analog]

I'm going to guess for Thorin it was Networking and 1 more bay expansion... Probably mostly networking ability.

Was gonna say: USB 2.0 VS Gigabit LAN

I know what I'd pick if I was in the market

[Tom]

I'm going to guess for Thorin it was Networking and 1 more bay expansion... Probably mostly networking ability.

Was gonna say: USB 2.0 VS Gigabit LAN

I know what I'd pick if I was in the market

Yeah, 20MB/s vs upwards of 40-60MB/s, and you don't have to keep a computer on to access it. It may be twice the price, but it is probably worth it. $600 is about the price of a decent file server box, so its not really all that expensive, specially since there's very little management involved.

[Lazybones]

I think the short answer is that one is a NAS and the other is just external storage.

He needed multiple computers to access the storage over a network.

[Mr. Analog]

I'm going to guess for Thorin it was Networking and 1 more bay expansion... Probably mostly networking ability.

Was gonna say: USB 2.0 VS Gigabit LAN

I know what I'd pick if I was in the market

Yeah, 20MB/s vs upwards of 40-60MB/s, and you don't have to keep a computer on to access it. It may be twice the price, but it is probably worth it. $600 is about the price of a decent file server box, so its not really all that expensive, specially since there's very little management involved.

Exactly!

[Thorin]

Just cruius, why did you go for http://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/PID-MX28444(ME).aspx

instead of http://www.memoryexpress.com/Products/PID-MX21524(ME).aspx

?

I got the Drobo FS (your first link) instead of the Drobo (your second link) because the FS doesn't need to be hooked to a computer.  I want to get away from having everything run through a single computer that then has to stay on all day and all night.  I can now move it to any switch or router on my home network (yeah, I've only got two so far) - something that might be important given that I've run out of power plugins near my computers.

I was thinking of buying a Drobo (not FS) and a DroboShare, which would have enabled the Drobo as a networked device, but the price was essentially the same and would require two power plugs, which would require me to find somewhere near a router with two power plugs - my living room's plugs are pretty much completely full depending on where I'm willing to put the Drobo+DroboShare (like, on the ground where everyone walks).  I wasn't willing to re-arrange my living room, so just buying the Drobo FS was the path of least resistance.

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lol!  6 replies as I'm typing my answer, answering for me!

[Thorin]

FYI, the Drobo FS has a few apps that can be installed on it - DroboApps.  The one I'm trying to install and get running is FUPPES, which is supposed to stream audio and video and images to DLNA devices (specifically I'm trying to get it to show on my Xbox360).  THIS IS A PAIN!  From everything I've read, DroboApps are certainly not plug-n-play like the promotional material suggests.

[Mr. Analog]

I suspect that since it's a new suite a features it's gonna be a pain in the butt.

The advantage I have by connecting the Drobo as a drive on a PC is that I can have Windows Media stream content that needs streaming.

Everything else is just a share and I've found that between my DVD player and my XBox just about all the file formats are covered.