Drobo adds enhanced support for Apple's Time Machine in new storage system
Popular bring-your-own-drive external storage company Drobo announced an update its flagship 4-bay unit Wednesday, making it faster and easier for Mac users to back up to the device using Time Machine.
Using a special configuration setting, users of the third-generation Drobo can now dedicate a customizable percentage of their overall storage pool to Time Machine. That is a significant step up from Drobo's previous solution which required owners to manually partition their Drobo using OS X's Disk Utility.
Time Machine backups will also take less time to complete as the new Drobo sports speedier USB 3.0 I/O.
Additionally, Drobo has taken steps to enhance its data protection scheme. The unit now features a built-in battery that will continue to drive the write caches in the event of a power failure, and the array can be rebuilt four times faster than the previous-generation Drobo should a disk stop working.
The new 4-bay Drobo is available now for preorder directly from Drobo for $349. Owners of first- or second-generation Drobo units can receive a $50 discount if they purchase a third-generation Drobo before June 9.
Using a special configuration setting, users of the third-generation Drobo can now dedicate a customizable percentage of their overall storage pool to Time Machine. That is a significant step up from Drobo's previous solution which required owners to manually partition their Drobo using OS X's Disk Utility.
Time Machine backups will also take less time to complete as the new Drobo sports speedier USB 3.0 I/O.
Additionally, Drobo has taken steps to enhance its data protection scheme. The unit now features a built-in battery that will continue to drive the write caches in the event of a power failure, and the array can be rebuilt four times faster than the previous-generation Drobo should a disk stop working.
The new 4-bay Drobo is available now for preorder directly from Drobo for $349. Owners of first- or second-generation Drobo units can receive a $50 discount if they purchase a third-generation Drobo before June 9.
Comments
I'm sure it is a good product as I hear of lots of people using the Drobo but just be sure to weigh your options.
Ugliest thing I ever saw. Think I will buy 4. I can't wait to spray paint it yellow and green for Oregon Ducks.
Oh?!
Do I hear plethora'l thoughts coming my way in a intellectually orchestrated and punctually designed metaphorical retort?
Oregon Ducks are a good team. Okay lets hear it.
For a cube it's not unattractive, but does that really matter when it's designed to neither be seen nor heard?
Don't forget to slap a Nike swoosh to it as well.
The storage is user-supplied disk drives. You choose the quantity, size (capacity), type (traditional rotational disk or SSD), and RAID implementation (if so desired).
The Drobo has some added functionality compared to plain old multi-bay enclosures, their website will explain that, but the basic concept (multiple drives in one case) is ancient.
I use a $99 Synology NAS connected to external HDs to backup over my LAN to time machine compatible storage.
It has a smart interface that powers down the unit gracefully when power goes off (attached to external UPS)
I can also access all my "stuff" over secure VPN remotely, and they have a variety of iOS apps for managing and accessing data.
It's also an iTunes compatible media server. They've been around for years and a ton of my clients use them for home and business.
I'm supposed to trust my data to these guys?
LOL, that's not a good sign.
Their website was working fine earlier today. Oh well.
No FileVault support because of the way Drobo thin provisions.
No way to rescue your data (without another Drobo) if your Drobo chassis fails. (Although to be fair to Drobo, many vendors use proprietary RAID on-disk formats. But many also just use the Linux md driver, which is portable.)
Well… Maybe I have a fashion queen at home who really requires everything have an intellectually fashionable purpose and this thing sitting some where will look like a fashionable disaster to her. She oozes fashion. She is the design queen. I am the couch mover. :-/
Get a QNAP or Synology instead (many features vs ease of use. for these two)
If you're serious about your data though. I would recommend a FreeNAS solution using ZFS which checks for bitrot and snapshots.
FreeNAS mini appliance. Former Apple UNIX chief Jordan Hubbard left to be their new CTO.
http://www.ixsystems.com/storage/freenas/
Except for my photos, there is nothing on my computers that I cannot download again, so I use Time Machine for painless backups.
The 2 things I would love to see on Time Machine:
1. Ability to backup just a single folder.
2. Ability to have some kind of a setting that ensures that no file is deleted completely. The way I understand it, once the backup drive is full, Time Machine starts deleting the oldest backups, so if I have a file that is only on the oldest backup, I'll lose it forever.
There should be some way for Time Machine to never delete a file completely.
Synology has much better adaptability and flexibility.
I use a $99 Synology NAS connected to external HDs to backup over my LAN to time machine compatible storage.
It has a smart interface that powers down the unit gracefully when power goes off (attached to external UPS)
I can also access all my "stuff" over secure VPN remotely, and they have a variety of iOS apps for managing and accessing data.
It's also an iTunes compatible media server. They've been around for years and a ton of my clients use them for home and business.
Which Synology model do you have? I went through their website and checked prices on Amazon and the cheapest unit I could find that had iTunes sharing was almost $400.