[X4U] Drobo

[Simon Forster]

On 2 Feb 2010, at 11:42, David Ledger wrote:

> The Drobo has been mentioned a few times. It looks interesting, so I've looked at getting one in the UK. One supplier - a specialist storage supplier - says it doesn't keep them and doesn't recommend them; the other - an Apple supplier - said they'd sold three and all three had had to be returned after failure. Data had been lost.
> 
> Don't they like 240 Volt mains?  What is the experience of those who have them?

Shoot. I was seriously considering a Drobo.

<http://www.amazon.co.uk/product-reviews/B001CSZMRK/ref=cm_cr_dp_all_helpful?ie=UTF8&coliid=&showViewpoints=1&colid=&sortBy=bySubmissionDateDescending>

18 reviews. 14 at 4 or 5 stars, 4 at 1 or 2 stars.

All the magazine reviews I've seen tend to be pro. The Register seemed to think it was a reasonable product <http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2008/03/20/review_drobo_droboshare/> all be it overpriced at GBP 350. Current street price seems to be around the GBP 280 mark.

I'd argue that the specialist supplier doesn't like them due to margin / not a stockist. The Apple supplier: their experience seems to run against the grain.

Having said this, I'm more than willing to listen to anyone who's got viable alternatives. I imagine like most people, I've got data all over the place - much of it poorly protected or inefficiently backed up on various drives. Storage consolidation would be good but then it needs to have some redundancy built in. Drobo seems to fit the bill.

Simon