Drobo | Blog | Review | Drobo 5N

Drobo – Cloud Storage – Drobo Solutions

Posted on March 29, 2013 by Mario Blandini • 0 Comments

Hi, the guys from Drobo talking about additional protection for your storage that’s on premises, using the cloud. Now Erik, there’s no more overused term than the cloud right now. When we think of it though in a solution adding value in on premises type of a storage solution, how should people think about that? When it comes to data protection, you want to make sure your first line of protection is on premises, for fast recovery.

Sometimes there is that critical data you want to get offsite maybe you don’t have a second location, or you don’t have to carry it offsite all of the time, or you want it to get off. let’s say every day, the cloud is great for that. You are using a solution that gets your data from your local backup server, offsite, on a daily basis, whatever, incremental is best for you is very valuable. There’s a lot of options, Matt, for doing this today. One of the examples and happens to be a popular cloud service you may have heard of Amazon, there is AWS storage gateway, which keeps a lot of the on premises stuff exactly the way it is, but in line then can selectively replicate some of that stuff in the cloud, tell us a little bit of how it works. One of my favorite solutions for replicating to the cloud, because of its flexibility.

So first, it’s going to be a AWS appliance that sits on your virtualized environment. It is going to sit between the Drobo and the cloud. It is going to replicate those changes to Amazon S3, which is going to give you geographically dispersed copies of your data for full redundancy. And then you had a disaster recovery situation, you can spin up AWS easy 2 instances, and then point to that storage as a EBS volume, and access your data, so in a true DR situation, you could spin up your corporate environment, in the cloud, with all of your data already replicated. Those are some great capabilities that people are looking for. You mentioned starting on premises, which is certainly the best place to start. Erik, this isn’t something you need to jump all into it can be selective, if you just have one application you want up there, the rest of it can be protected on premises, because you may not be able to afford everything being in the cloud, but it is certainly a path toward getting in the cloud. Get all your data offsite, you know it’s the frequency, and what data you need get offsite up into the cloud, versus what can go offsite, whether it’s tape or taking storage offsite. Well expect a lot more developments in this area of cloud interacts with on premises storage like Drobo.

If you would you like to learn more about the experience of a Drobo, request a Drobo for business live demo here. Find us on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn, and Google+.

Drobo and Sonos: Music To My Ears

Posted on March 19, 2013 by Erik Pounds • 3 Comments

Sonos Wireless HiFi Music System

My Drobo works beautifully with Sonos. For me, few things are more relaxing than hanging out at home (when it’s clean) and listening to music. I rarely do it though. I have kids, so usually there are many things happening and it’s too much work to turn everything on, in the right room, so I can enjoy some tunes. Thankfully, we do not have to hassle with physical media (CDs, tapes, records) anymore just to listen to the stuff you love. Digital media and wireless music systems like Sonos changed all of that for me.

While Sonos can play a myriad of Internet radio stations, it’s often nice to listen to your own familiar playlists. I have a lot of music on my Drobo, so I definitely wanted to get my Drobo and Sonos hooked up together. Doing that was very easy.

While it is simple, I wrote a how-to guide for adding your music library stored on a Drobo to Sonos. For those who want to have your music stream throughout your home network, hopefully this will give you the confidence to take the next step. The only items needed: a wireless router, Drobo, and a Sonos speaker. Once you get going, you can then expand your Sonos system to play music in multiple rooms at the same time.

Listening to Van Morrison’s “Bright Side of the Road” as I write this…yes indeed—it’s a good day at home.

To learn more about the Drobo 5N, request a Drobo live demo here. Find us on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn, and Google+.

Drobo Madness Bracket Challenge: Enter To Win A Drobo 5N!

Posted on March 14, 2013 by Nora Weintraub • 2 Comments

Hey Drobo fans! It’s March, a time when the best college basketball teams rise to the top and champions are immortalized. It’s also a time when everyday hoops junkies test their picking prowess against others with the American tradition of the filling out a bracket. Well, Drobo has its own Drobo Madness Bracket Challenge group, and we want your business to be a winner, too. Don’t worry, unlike your office pool there’s no legal ambiguity here. We have a Drobo 5N lying around and we want your company to have a chance to win it and make life a lot easier for IT people like you.

If you’re unfamiliar with Drobo, let us take this opportunity to introduce ourselves. Drobo is a data storage company that’s ahead of the curve. We build data storage solutions that are both far more user-friendly and feature faster performance than a traditional RAID unit. The Drobo 5N is our newest product and the flagship of our professional line, which was completely overhauled during the last quarter of 2012. It features five 3.5” drive bays and an Ethernet port for ultra-fast connection to your data. The professional line also includes the USB3.0 and Thunderbolt-connected 5D and the portable Drobo Mini.

But what if a 4- or 5-bay system isn’t enough and you work in a corporate IT environment? We have our business line. We offer the 8-bay, optionally rack-mounted Drobo B800FS and Drobo B800i. If that’s still not enough, there’s the fully rack-mountable 12-bay Drobo B1200i. All models have gigabit Ethernet, with the Drobo B800i and Drobo B1200i also having iSCSI support. Our business line also supports multiple Virtualization and SMB options. If you would you like to learn more about the experience of a Drobo, request a Drobo for business live demo here. Find us on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn, and Google+.

Drobo Madness Bracket Challenge Steps:

Step 1: Registration starts on March 17 and ends on March 21, preceding the first tip-off (11 a.m. ET). You must enter here: The Drobo Madness Bracket Challenge by signing up for the Drobo Business Live Demo. The Drobo Madness Bracket Challenge duration is from March 17- April 8, 2013, and the winner will be announced on April 9, 2013.

Step 2: You will receive an automated email after you sign up for the Business Live Demo. This email will contain the invite and password to our Drobo Madness Bracket Challenge Group. You will also receive a $10 Amazon gift card after you attend the Drobo for Business Live Demo. All $10 Amazon gift cards will be emailed on April 9, 2013 after the challenge is over.

Here is how to WIN:

* You must attend one of our Drobo for Business Live Demos to be eligible to win.

* Your email address will determine your eligibility, so you must use the same email address for both the Drobo for Business Live Demo and the Drobo Madness Bracket Challenge.

* The participant with the highest score total that meets eligibility requirements will be declared the winner.

Step 3: Sign up for your bracket and pick your teams. Choose wisely, because the eligible bracket with the most points wins the Drobo 5N!

Step 4: Celebrate like a champion. Even if you don’t win the Drobo Madness Bracket Challenge and the Drobo 5N, everyone wins when using Drobo products!

Drobo Madness Bracket Challenge Rules

Sponsor: Drobo

Prizes: Drobo 5N (Retail value: $599) awarded once on <April 9, 2013>. This product includes a Drobo 5N, 6 ft (1.8 m) Ethernet cable, 6 ft (1.8 m) power cord with power supply, Quick Start Card.

Eligibility: The contest is open to all legal residents of the United States of America 18 years or older. NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. Employees of Drobo, Splash Media, GeekBeat, and their immediate family members and individuals living in the same household as employees are ineligible. The winner may be requested to sign an Affidavit and Release to claim a prize at the request of the Sponsor. This contest is subject to all applicable federal, state and local laws, rules and regulations. By participating in this contest, entrants agree to these official contest rules. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW.

Contest Period: The contest runs from March 17- April 8, 2013, and the winner will be announced on April 9, 2013. Entries must be received on March 21, 2013 at 11 a.m. ET, on the last day of the contest entry period to be eligible to win. The prize winner will be notified by an announcement on the Drobo Facebook Page (http://www.facebook.com/Drobo) and by tweets through the Drobo Twitter account (twitter.com/drobo). The prize winner will then be given 7 days to send complete delivery information. (Which must include, but may not be limited to, first and last name, mailing address capable of receiving prize from the shipping carrier Drobo so chooses (no P.O. boxes), city, state, and ZIP code.)

Entry: Participants may enter the contest by fully completing the entry form displayed from the Facebook Page Tab (http://www.facebook.com/Drobo). There is an entry limit of one unique entry per participant. To be eligible to win a prize, participants must complete all fields of the entry form and successfully submit the entry. All complete entries, which contain Name, Company, and Business Email Address and the Participant’s Name, Company, and Email Address, will be eligible to compete in the Drobo Madness Bracket Challenge. Any attempt by any participant to undermine the legitimate operation of the contest, will void all entries by such party. The Sponsor shall not be liable for entries that are not received. Entry forms will be ineligible if the entry information is not complete and accurate, at the Sponsor’s sole discretion.

General Considerations: If the Drobo 5N cannot be delivered to the winner, due to his or her location, or by any prohibition of the selected prize under state, county or city code or ordinance, then the awarding of the prize shall be null and void. No monetary or other prize award shall be made in lieu of the Sponsor being unable to transfer any prizes. No substitutions, cash equivalents, or transfers of the prize are permitted. The winner is responsible for the payment of all applicable taxes and transfer fees. Entry constitutes permission to use the winner’s name (first name, initial and last name, city, state) on the Sponsor’s websites or otherwise, and in any statements about the contest for publication purposes, without additional compensation.

Privacy: Other than as provided herein, Sponsor will utilize the names, email addresses and/or mailing addresses of entries to notify the participant if he or she is the winner of the contest and to award the prize. Sponsor reserve all rights, in Sponsor’s sole discretion, to use all information for promotional purposes in the future. See Drobo Privacy Policy at http://www.drobo.com/website/privacy-policy.php.

Limitation of Liability: Sponsor is not responsible for printing or typographical errors in any contest-related materials; stolen, lost, late, misdirected, damaged, incomplete, or illegible entries; any use or misuse of the prize; or transactions that are processed late or incorrectly or are lost due to computer or electronic malfunction. Sponsor reserves the right to cancel or modify the contest if fraud or technical failures compromise the integrity of contest as determined by the Sponsor in their sole discretion, or for any other reason, with or without prior written notice.

Disputes: All disputes arising out of the contest shall be resolved only in the federal and state courts of Santa Clara, Calif., USA and all participants waive any rights or objections to the jurisdiction or venue of such courts.

Which Drobo is Right for You? Easy as 1-2-3…

Posted on March 7, 2013 by Mario Blandini • 2 Comments

Drobo for Professional and Business

If you’re interested in or considering a Drobo, you have a) decided protection from a hard drive failure is vital and b) already made the choice that you care about a solution that is easy and affordable. In the years since the first USB Drobo, there are more choices for a Drobo to support your application, so it’s important to understand which Drobo is the “right one” for you. All Drobo models offer BeyondRAID, and the major differences are in the connectivity they offer, and the amount of Drobo performance and capacity for users.

Drobo Questions

Three simple questions are all it takes, and we even have an easy tool to help you choose the Drobo that best fits your needs. This tool is one of the most popular features of the site (even more popular than our capacity calculator). We call it the “Product Chooser,” a funny name, but one that clearly identifies what it does: making choosing a Drobo as easy as 1-2-3:

1) How many computers will use your Drobo at the same time?

This will help decide on the best way to connect your Drobo, whether you need a direct-attach Drobo (DAS, or Direct-Attach Storage) for photo or video editing, or a networked shared Drobo (NAS or SAN). DAS Drobo models connect via the latest Thunderbolt or USB 3.0, while networked Drobos connect to a network via an Ethernet cable. Step 1 is very easy and straightforward.

2) How do you plan to use your Drobo?

This area can be long and complex, but really they’re only a few core use cases that narrow down the selection. Are you backing up or using for working storage? Is it small scale or large scale like a server? There are two or three choices, depending upon your connection (from question 1). You are almost done!

3) How much storage do you need?

While each model of Drobo is easy to upgrade thanks to BeyondRAID, each model has a logical starting point and an ultimate limit in terms of overall storage capacity. Depending on the data needs of your business both now and in the future, you should decide how much storage you need to get going and what your upper limit may be in the future. The second part is a lot less important, as BeyondRAID technology allows for easy, almost-perpetual expansion. If you have any questions about this, you can reach a expert via live chat on our site, underneath the Drobo Product Chooser tool.

Naturally, there are many more criteria if you want to really get detailed and dig in to all possible options and tradeoffs. We make that part easy as well. The aforementioned capacity calculator helps you plan different scenarios of starting points and max capacities. For performance, we have pages on the site to reference, or you can attend one of our “Drobo Live” Demos. You can see Drobos in action, try them out to benchmark your requirements, and ask questions of the Drobo “Genius” hosting the demo.

But to get started, it is as easy as 1-2-3! Visit the Help Me Choose feature on the site, choose the answers that best fit your use, and you’ll be on the right path with Drobo to protect your data from hard drive failure—and you can easily and affordably expand as your data grows.

To schedule a Live Demo on our business products visit this Drobo Business Live Demo.

To schedule a Live Demo on our professional products visit this Drobo Professional Live Demo.

If you would you like to learn more about the experience of a Drobo, find us on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn, and Google+.

Drobo – Partnership with Barracuda Networks

Posted on February 20, 2013 by Tom Buiocchi • 0 Comments

Drobo has very exciting news today – let’s get right to the chase – click here for all the details.

Drobo Tom CEO Drobo Partnership with Barracuda Networks

Drobo CEO Tom Buiocchi

Drobo is proud that we are continuing to drive the evolution of modern storage for small and medium business customers. Modern storage does things automatically – it doesn’t require you to be a storage expert (go ahead if you’d like). Modern storage knows how to protect data storage automatically. It knows what hard drives are good for and what SSDs are good for and automatically figures out how to use them optimally so you get great performance and great capacity (BOTH!).

And modern data storage knows what a cloud is, what it is good for, and how to talk to it – automatically – to give you the best ability to share and protect your data – onsite and in the sky (BOTH!).

Drobo now has a super-modern cloud storage partner in Barracuda Networks. The folks at ‘Cuda have developed a killer cloud app called “Copy” that they have ported to the new Drobo 5N – so you can have seamless, secure sharing of information with an automatic (there’s that word again) synchronization between your onsite modern storage (Drobo) and your modern cloud (Copy). Get your Drobo 5N, and then click on www.copy.com to get a fantastic, amazing storage experience.

Does real modern storage give you hard drives or SSD? How about BOTH. Performance or Capacity? BOTH! Local or Cloud storage – once again, it’s BOTH!

Thanks, you gotta check this out.

Tom

To learn more about the experience of a Drobo, request a Drobo for business live demo here. Find us on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn, and Google+.

Drobo – Send your IT friend on a Valentine’s date with Drobo and win a free 5N!

Posted on February 5, 2013 by Nora Weintraub • 0 Comments

Drobo and business: a match made in heaven. But does your IT friend know that Drobo’s business line can do wonders for their storage? From now until February 14, when you refer your friend in IT to one of our Business Live Demos, you’ll be entered to win a FREE Drobo 5N!

Drobo Contest Steps:

1. Go to our Facebook tab and fill out the short form. Your friend in IT (at your company, or any company) will automatically get an email with links for joining any of the four regular Live Demos that run every day M-F.

2. Upon submitting the form, you will be entered to win one of our brand new Drobo 5N products (a $599 value).

3. At 2 p.m. CST on February 14, the winner will be announced on Drobo’s Facebook page. It’s that easy!

It may not be a rose but it sure Is nice!

The Drobo 5N is the latest in the Drobo family and provides users a flexible, easy to use way to store and protect important files, pictures, music, and more. While it is a tiny little box, it packs some real power, and is great for all of the Macs and PCs in your home or home office. With five drive bays and Drobo’s BeyondRAID Technology, the Drobo 5N not only can store a lot of data but also be upgraded easily when you need even more. To keep your data safe the Drobo 5N features a backup battery, ensuring that even if there is an outage your data is safe. Your data is important, so you need one of these at home.

For your friends in IT, Drobo’s business products—the B1200i, B800i, and B800fs—offer a level of customizability, flexibility, ease of use, and protection unseen elsewhere. Once one of your IT friends adds one of these mighty machines to their company’s arsenal, they’ll wonder how they ever went without one. A great way to find out more about Drobo’s innovative and unparalleled products is to request a Drobo live demo here. Find us on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn, and Google+.

Drobo CONTEST RULES

Sponsor: Drobo

Prizes: Drobo 5N (Retail value: $599) awarded once on 2/14/2013. This product includes a Drobo 5N, 6 ft (1.8 m) Ethernet cable, 6 ft (1.8 m) power cord with power supply, Quick Start Card.

Eligibility: The contest is open to all legal residents of the United States of America 18 years or older. NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. Employees of Drobo and their immediate family members and individuals living in the same household as employees are ineligible. All winners may be requested to sign an Affidavit and Release to claim a prize at the request of the Sponsor. This contest is subject to all applicable federal, state and local laws, rules and regulations. By participating in this contest, entrants agree to these official contest rules. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED BY LAW.

Contest Period: The contest runs from February 1, 2013 until February 14, 2013. Entries must be received by 2 p.m. CST, on the last day of the contest period to be eligible to win. Prize winners will be notified by an announcement on the Drobo Facebook Page (http://www.facebook.com/Drobo) and by tweets through the Drobo Twitter account (twitter.com/drobo). Prize winners will then be given 7 days to send complete delivery information. (Which must include, but may not be limited to, first and last name, mailing address capable of receiving prize from shipping carrier Drobo so chooses- no P.O. boxes, city, state, and ZIP code.)

Entry: Participants may enter the contest by fully completing the entry form displayed on the Facebook Page Tab. (http://www.facebook.com/Drobo) There is an entry limit of one unique entry per participant. To be eligible to win a prize, participants must complete all fields of the entry form and successfully submit the entry. All complete entries, which contain IT Referral’s Name, Company, and Business Email Address and the Participant’s Name, Company, and Email Address, will be entered into a random drawing from which the contest winner will be selected. Any attempt by any participant to undermine the legitimate operation of the contest, will void all entries by such party. The Sponsor shall not be liable for entries that are not received. Entry forms will be ineligible if the entry information is not complete and accurate.

General Considerations: If the Drobo 5N cannot be delivered to the winner, due to his or her location, or by any prohibition of the selected prize under state, county or city code or ordinance, then the awarding of the prize shall be null and void. No monetary or other prize award shall be made in lieu of the Sponsor being unable to transfer any prizes. No substitutions, cash equivalents, or transfers of the prize are permitted. Winners are responsible for the payment of all applicable taxes and transfer fees. Entry constitutes permission to use the winner’s name (first name, initial and last name, city, state) on the Sponsor’s websites or otherwise, and in any statements about the contest for publication purposes without any additional compensation.

Privacy: Other then as provided herein, Sponsor will utilize the names, e-mail addresses and/or mailing address of entries to notify the participant if they are a winner of the contest and to award the prize. Sponsor reserve all rights, in Sponsor’s sole discretion, to use all information for promotional purposes in the future. See Drobo Privacy Policy @ http://www.drobo.com/website/privacy-policy.php.

Disputes: All disputes arising out of the contest shall be resolved only in the federal and state courts of Santa Clara, CA, USA and all participants waive any rights or objections to the jurisdiction or venue of such courts.

Drobo talk

Posted on January 18, 2013 by Tom Buiocchi • 0 Comments

Wanted to pass along 11 fantastic minutes of “new Drobo” discussion from two customers – who turn out to be among the leading visionaries, educators, and thought leaders in the photography and video production fields.

Scott Bourne is s a digital media pioneer whose internationally recognized photography has appeared in more than 200 books, magazines, newspapers, television shows, fine art galleries, and websites. He’s also the author of 5 photography books and he runs the #1 photography podcast in the world, PhotoFocus.

Rich Harrington is on the forefront of the merger of photography and video and combines his love of both into his professional career with his company RHED Pixel. Rich is a certified instructor for Adobe, Apple, and Avid.

Scott and Rich spent a little time bantering about the new Drobos on their January 15, 2013 PhotoFocus podcast. If you have 11 minutes, check out the podcast below. Here are some terrific sound bites:

“We did everything but put a flamethrower to it”
“Fast enough for video editing … we were impressed”
“Fast enough to run an Aperture library, without any problems”

Funny. It’s just two guys talking to each other, but to my ears … it sounded like music . Thanks for checking it out.

Tom

If you would you like to learn more about the experience of a Drobo, request a Drobo for business live demo here. Find us on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn, and Google+.

Performance in 2013 is about juggling more than one ball at a time

Posted on January 8, 2013 by Tom Buiocchi • 0 Comments

Hi there again. I’m guessing that if you are interested in high-performance storage, you may be looking at Thunderbolt-based solutions. Good idea. You’re probably the kind of person who likes to get things done fast and who likes to do more than one thing at a time. I confess, I’m in that club too.

So if you are going to consider a modern storage device, with modern connection technology such as Thunderbolt, then make sure that your storage can do modern things that you want it to do – like juggle more than one ball at a time. … Continue Reading

Looking forward to 2013!

Posted on January 4, 2013 by Tom Buiocchi • 0 Comments

Hi everyone and happy new year to you all. Hope you had a great holiday season. Long-ish blog here, so bear with me.

We’re really excited about this new year. You’re giving us great feedback on our new products and I encourage you to please keep it coming as we learn from all of it.

Speaking of learning, there’s not a day that goes by without getting a new “aha” or two. … Continue Reading

The evolution of a backup strategy from beginner to expert

Posted on December 31, 2012 by Nora Weintraub • 1 Comment

Welcome Dave Seeram, Editor in Chief and Owner of PhotographyBB Magazine for our first guest post. With the mission of providing a positive and supportive learning environment for beginners, Dave strives to achieve the perfect blend between inspiration and education to amateur and intermediate-level photography enthusiasts. (He also drinks coffee, but secretly prefers tea maybe because he’s a Canadian living on the west coast in British Columbia!)

Have you ever lost important files or data? As our lives become increasingly digital and as a result, less tangible, we live through illuminated screens, where our communication with one another and even our memories are kept through status updates, e-mails, digital images and video. How would you feel if tomorrow, all of your data just disappeared? … Continue Reading