Drobo Intros New Thunderbolt Storage Systems

[admin]

Drobo Intros New Thunderbolt Storage Systems
Thursday, June 21, 2012
Posted by: Staff

Drobo today introduced their Drobo 5D and Drobo Mini storage systems with Thunderbolt and USB 3.0 interfaces. Both systems also feature automated SSD acceleration for improved performance and reliability. They also come with Thunderbolt and USB 3.0 cables, so you're ready to roll straight out of the box. So, what about pricing and availability? We're expecting those final details in July.

"Both the Drobo 5D and Drobo Mini include industry-first SSD acceleration-utilizing the performance benefits of solid state drives (SSDs) and the capacity benefits of hard disk drives (HDDs) to deliver an automated, no-compromise system. In addition to supporting SSDs in any of the drive bays, both units include an additional bay that will accommodate a small-form-factor SSD to achieve significant performance boosts while making all drive bays available for high-capacity HDDs.

The products also support both lightning-fast Thunderbolt (2 ports) and USB 3.0 connectivity, an industry first for storage arrays that will provide flexibility to both Mac and Windows users. The two Thunderbolt ports allow customers to easily daisy-chain devices to accommodate massive growth, and the USB 3.0 port ensures compatibility to millions of USB systems.

Along with SSD acceleration and Thunderbolt / USB 3.0 interfaces, the new Drobo products have been completely redesigned from the ground up with new hardware and software architectures. These enhancements provide a significant increase in processing capability and several optimizations to BeyondRAID that will increase baseline performance by at least five times-prior to the addition of SSDs-easily making the new Drobo 5D and Drobo Mini the fastest storage arrays in their class."



http://www.123macmini.com/news/story/1845.html

[mooblie]

I must say, I'm surprised they didn't include a Gigabit Ethernet port as well - or is this just a simple disc enclosure, without any NAS pretensions?
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Martin at HeadSpin HD now on Blu-ray

[ESUNintel]

Ethernet capability would have been nice - it actually becomes a headache trying to backup Mac's and PC's to external drives - sure, the back up goes a lot quicker, but I still find that backing up wirelessly is more convenient, and restoring via Thunderbolt would have been super cool.

I got a Synology DS212 about 2 weeks ago, and am really liking it. It's my first NAS setup, but Synology actually makes it easy to learn as you go. If the Synology works and only cost me about $300, I have a hard time justifying why I would want to pay so much for a Drobo - might as well just get a better looking 2TB or 4TB LaCie, thunderbolt, setup and save some $$.

[Ben Tex]

[CaliforniaMini]

That Mini is looking interesting. I am currently looking at devices to back up photos, both in the field as well as home. In the field, I would basically use it to free up storage on memory cards, as I have a hard time justifying carrying a bag full of those around. At home, I would use it to store my entire photo library. I was considering two devices, one portable and one that would live at home. But perhaps, with this, depending on size and price, I could do it all with one device. I'm not a professional, just an amateur that is becoming more interested in the hobby. There is obviously no one right answer to this.

But after doing some looking around, with the Mini expected to retail for $599, I'm definitely thinking twice already. Of course Drobo is already expensive, I don't expect a new model with Thunderbolt to be anything less. But throw in four 1tb drives and this thing is over $1,000. Thats almost as much as I have into my MacBookPro.
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Mercury TiBook 400MHz, 1GB RAM, 120GB HD, Airport
Mini 2.16GHz C2D, 2GB RAM, 320GB 72k RPM HD, 1TB External, Slingbox
BlackBook 2.2GHz C2D, 4GB RAM, 320GB 72k RPM HD
Mini 2.0GHz (Early 2009), 4GB RAM, 320GB 72k RPM HD

[g5g5]

Yeah, I would absolutely love to have something like the Mini in the $250-$350 price range. I'm also interested in that new portable USB 3.0 drive from G-Tech. Something for going in between home and work with.

http://www.engadget.com/2012/06/25/g-technology-kicks-out-usb-3-g-drives-for-macs/
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1.25GHz Mac Mini / 1.8GHz iMac G5 / 2.0GHz C2D Mac mini (2009)
4GB iPod mini / 2G iPod shuffle / 16GB iPhone 3G
Apple TV 2
iLife's a Bitch!

[CaliforniaMini]

I agree. For a little more than the price they are expected to charge for the Mini (I've seen a couple of sources say $599 and others say under $650) without discs, I can get a Guardian Maximus, a Guardian Maximus Mini, and the drives to go in both, which is my original plan after going through many hardware options in my mind.
_________________
Mercury TiBook 400MHz, 1GB RAM, 120GB HD, Airport
Mini 2.16GHz C2D, 2GB RAM, 320GB 72k RPM HD, 1TB External, Slingbox
BlackBook 2.2GHz C2D, 4GB RAM, 320GB 72k RPM HD
Mini 2.0GHz (Early 2009), 4GB RAM, 320GB 72k RPM HD