drobo

Drobo Launches the 8D. An 8-Bay Thunderbolt 3 Storage Solution

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My primary photo storage device is a Drobo 5D3 which is a 5-bay Thunderbolt 3 enabled storage array. I also use a 5N2 NAS to mirror the 5D3 every night, and I keep an older Thunderbolt 2 5D unit at another physical location as a third backup. You could say I’m pretty invested in the Drobo systems, and having owned every version of them since the very first Firewire units nearly a decade ago, I pay close attention to new product launches. Today they launched the Drobo 8D, which is basically the bigger brother to the 5D3 that I’m currently

How to Speed Up Your Drobo

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The vast majority of my data lives on a variety of Drobos. I currently have a Thunderbolt 3 enabled Drobo 5D3 as my primary storage device, stacked with 32TB of drives, and I also have the same set of data mirrored onto a Drobo 5N2 which I can access remotely from anywhere in the world. A further Drobo 5D is held offsite too.  In chatting with one of Drobo’s technical gurus recently I learnt something that I didn’t know. Whilst a Drobo can protect your data as long as it has at least two drives in it, the data read and

Gear Check: Drobo 5D3

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Drobo recently announced a new Thunderbolt 3 enabled storage unit called the 5D3. As it happened, it came out right as I was contemplating a new storage setup due to increasing needs so I ordered one right away from B&H Photo. If you want to read more about my entire photo backup strategy, I recently wrote an update to my guide over on Shutter Muse, but here on this blog I just wanted to give you guys a quick heads up about this new product. I’ve been using Drobos for longer than I can remember, but they really started coming

Backup Routine Revisited

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I’ve just had another drive failure here in the office and this always causes me to stop and think about my backup routine.  I haven’t lost any data in the incident but I like reviewing things every now and again and reminding you guys how important this stuff is.   The drive that failed was my primary boot drive for my 27″ iMac.  In fact it was a $600 SSD which in theory should last much longer than a regular spinning disk drive.  In reality it lasted less than a year before catastrophic instantaneous failure.  Never trust a drive.  SSD

Drobo Unveils Their Thunderbolt Products – 5D & 5D Mini

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Today Drobo has unveiled two new products that feature both dual Thunderbolt ports and USB3 making them equally enticing for both Mac and PC users.  Thunderbolt storage arrays have been a bit thin on the ground since its launch but everyone has had their eye on Drobo waiting to see what they were working on.  It wasn’t a case of if but when and that when is today.

Drobo have unveiled two new models, the 5D and the 5D mini.  At first glance the 5D will look familiar, sharing a design with the previous eSata version of the Drobo, apart from an extra SSD slot in the base.  The 5D mini is an all new design though and I think this is going to grab all the headlines.  It’s only 7″ x 7″ x 2″ but it will take 4 x 2.5″ drives (HDD or SSD) and also features a 5th slot in the base for a further low profile SSD.  Designed for portability, the 5D mini has a rubberized ‘rugged’ exterior and also has an option carry case.  This is big storage on the go.

Both 5D and 5D mini ship with custom 1m thunderbolt cables (thank god!) and we will hear more about shipping dates in July.

As I sit here writing this I’m away on a long photo trip myself.  For this trip I totally underestimated how much storage space I would need and that meant that yesterday I ended up in the local computer store buying an ’emergency’ 1TB drive.  Wish I’d had one of these Minis with me really.  I like the fact that they have designed this for the pro on the go, it makes sense as few photographers or videographers create in the own back yard.

Thankfully both products have dual Thunderbolt ports.  There have been FAR too many Thunderbolt enabled products launched with just one port.  All of them saying it will have to be at ‘the end of the chain’ which totally defeats half the purpose.  Drobo have done it right though, so you can still plug in two separate drive into one port on the computer.  This is important because most pros will want to split another backup up and travel with it in a second location.  I don’t like to travel with all my eggs in my laptop bag even if that is a redundant solution within itself.  Putting a further copy in your checked baggage is a good idea.

Pricing

Drobo 5D will start under $850

Drobo 5D Mini will start under $650

These prices will of course NOT include drives so don’t forget to factor that into your calculations.  Both will take either HDD or SSD.

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