Drobo 5D and Drobo Mini with Thunderbolt Available for Pre-order, Final Pricing Announced
Subject: Storage | July 25, 2012 - 01:58 PM | Tim Verry
Tagged: thunderbolt, redundant storage, drobo mini, drobo 5d, drobo
We covered the new Thunderbolt-equipped Drobo units last month, and they are looking like promising additions to the company’s lineup. Both Drobo units were slated for a July release, and they are right on track. You can now pre-order the Drobo 5D and Drobo Mini from a number of retailers including Amazon, NCIX, B&H Photo, and Tiger Direct among others.
For the uninitiated, the Drobo 5D is a five bay Drobo S with upgrades. It features USB 3.0 and Thunderbolt interfaces as well as an mSATA SSD to improve performance. Like the predecessor, it will accept standard 3.5-inch desktop drives. You can pre-order it now for $849.
The Drobo Mini on the other hand forgoes desktop drives to achieve a much smaller form-factor. It will accept up to four 2.5-inch laptop hard drives (or SSDs if you want crazy speeds). The Drobo Mini is further able to connect to your computer using either USB 3.0 or Thunderbolt. Like the Drobo 5D, it has an integrated mSATA port (not included). You can pre-order this little redundant storage system for $649.
You can find more information about the new Drobo products on the company’s website. The full press release is available here..
Drobo releases new Thunderbolt + USB 3.0 '5D' and 'Mini' - both mSATA SSD accelerated
Subject: Storage | June 21, 2012 - 09:06 AM | Allyn Malventano
Tagged: ssd, msata, drobo
I have a warm spot in my heart for Drobo products ever since I spent months trying to break one (unsuccessfully). With that I am now pleased to report on their announcement of two new products.
First is the Drobo 5D, which is basically a 5-bay Drobo S on steroids. It updates the interface to USB 3.0 + Thunderbolt and speeds up IOPS and multi-stream performance by way of an mSATA SSD. The SSD does not take up a drive bay as it is installed beneath a trap door un the bottom of the 5D:
Next up is the Drobo Mini. This little guy carries the same connectivity as the 5D, but is *much* smaller:
The drop in size comes from a change in the form factor of installed storage. It takes up to 4 2.5" form factor drives. Performance should be similar to that of the 5D, primarily based on it also sporting that integrated mSATA port. I suspect the mini will go over very well with the mobile / MacBook / Ultrabook crowd, as being able to carry a small box with large redundant storage is a great idea for mobile workstations.
More to follow as availability will be announced in July. Pricing is expected to be below $650 (thunderbolt cable *included*). Press blast after the break.
Win a Free Drobo Storage Device at PC Perspective!!
Subject: Editorial, General Tech, Storage | September 22, 2011 - 04:42 PM | Ryan Shrout
Tagged: pcper, giveaway, drobo, contest
UPDATE: Just a couple more days left on this contest - we are closing entries for this Drobo at 12:01am EST on September 26th!
So you know here at PC Perspective we are big fans of backing up your data. And one such brand of devices that helps users do that efficiently and safely is Drobo. We are still working on our Drobo FS review here internally, but should probably check out Allyn's previous review of the 8-bay Drobo Pro to get an idea of the technology and reliability of Drobo.
But, back to the point, did we say you could win a brand new Drobo for yourself? Yes, you can get your hands on a free Drobo FS unit by simply filling out a form and using your Twitter and Facebook accounts to spread the good word of data security!!
What do you have to do? It's a simple three step process:
- Follow @Drobo on Twitter and send a message to all your friends with the hash tags #drobo and #pcper telling them about your love of both!
- OR .... hit up Drobo on their Facebook page and leave a note on YOUR wall for your friends on the same topic - backing up your data and how Drobo gets it done.
- Finally, fill out the form at http://bit.ly/pcperdrobo to finish the job.
You will be emailed a coupon for a Drobo even if you don't win the free one, so you can still get something out this deal, right?!?
Our thanks go out to Drobo for the donations and to our loyal reader base for support PC Perspective over the years!
Podcast #169 - SSD Decoder Update, Antec SOLO II, ASUS Eee Pad Transformer, Ultrabook news and a Drobo contest!!
Subject: Editorial, General Tech, Graphics Cards, Processors, Storage, Mobile | September 8, 2011 - 03:23 PM | Ryan Shrout
Tagged: ultrabook, ssd, podcast, eee pad transformer, drobo, decoder, asus, antec
PC Perspective Podcast #169 - 9/08/2011
Join us this week as we discuss the MARS II combo on Newegg, an update to the SSD Decoder, the new Antec SOLO II chassis, our review of the ASUS Eee Pad Transformer tablet, news on Ultrabook development and even announce a new contest partnership with Drobo!
You can subscribe to us through iTunes and you can still
The URL for the podcast is: http://pcper.com/podcast - Share with your friends!
- iTunes - Subscribe to the podcast directly through the iTunes Store
- RSS - Subscribe through your regular
RSS reader - MP3 - Direct download link to the MP3 file
Hosts: Ryan Shrout, Josh Walrath, Jeremy Hellstrom, Allyn Malventano
This Podcast is brought to you by
Program Schedule:
- Introduction
- 1-888-38-PCPER or podcast@pcper.com
- http://pcper.com/podcast
- http://twitter.com/ryanshrout and http://twitter.com/pcper
- MARS II Combo for $4000!
- SSD Decoder Update
- Kingwin Stryker 500W Fanless Power Supply Review
- Video Perspective: Antec SOLO II Chassis Review
- ASUS Eee Pad Transformer TF101 Review: Assemble!
- This Podcast is brought to you by MSI Computer, and their all new Sandy Bridge Motherboards!
- Zotac Releases New ZBOX Nano AD10 Series Mini PCs
- Toshiba Unveils Portege Z830 Ultrabook Series
- Bulldozer Infused Trinity APU Specifications Confirmed
- Intel Unveils 16 New 32nm Processors
- AMD Ships Bulldozer for Revenue- Interlagos though- will write up after the podcast and post on front page.
- Magma Unveils the First Three-Slot Thunderbolt Expansion Chassis
- Drobo contest
- Email from Wes about GPU selection
- Email from Chris about GPU whine
- Email from Lee about SSD security
- Email from a mystery writer about GPU stuttering
- Finally, a VIDEO QUESTION from David!
- Hardware / Software Pick of the Week
- Ryan: Blackmagic Intensity Pro
- Jeremy: Coil gun revolver with laser sty ((sight?) so there)
- Josh: Thermaltake eSports Shock Spin Diamond Black
- Allyn: Surefire LED flashlights
- 1-888-38-PCPER or podcast@pcper.com
- http://pcper.com/podcast
- http://twitter.com/ryanshrout and http://twitter.com/pcper
- Closing
Drobo Improves Storage with new App-Driven Delivery
Subject: Storage | August 24, 2011 - 10:03 AM | Jeremy Hellstrom
Tagged: drobo, SAS, BeyondRAID
SAN JOSE, Calif. – August 24, 2011 – Drobo, makers of award-winning data storage products for businesses and professionals, today introduced a new Drobo for business solution, the Drobo B1200i, which features technological breakthroughs and an unprecedented combination of automation, affordability and application awareness for the small and medium business (SMB) market.
The new 12-bay Drobo provides business customers with a unique storage solution for VMware, Microsoft Exchange and other business applications – offering advanced and sophisticated capabilities for customers without large enterprise budgets or deep storage expertise. The new Drobo takes an application-driven approach to storage, cutting cost and complexity while automating modern data protection, capacity planning and application performance.
The new Drobo B1200i builds on Drobo’s track record of providing “Small Box, Big Storage” by delivering a solution that is uniquely:
Automated
- Automated BeyondRAID™ technology optimizes advanced data protection without the need for specific storage expertise or configuration
- Automated thin provisioning and reclamation delivers enterprise-class expandability and storage utilization features in a simplified, automated manner
- New, automated data-aware tiering solves performance tuning issues that have traditionally taken storage administrators weeks or months to address
Application-Driven
- Adjusts in real-time to changes in application workload, without the need for user or admin intervention and tuning
- Uniquely utilizes SSD technology in the same pool as conventional disk drives to accelerate the most demanding operations – automatically, based on application workload Affordable
- Available at prices starting under $10,000 for 12 TB of SAS storage
- The most efficient and cost-effective way to utilize SSD technology – unlike traditional tiering or SSD solutions, Drobo allows customers to incrementally add SSD drives in the same box and in the same storage pool as traditional media – resulting in optimal price-performance
- Designed, like all Drobos, to be the easiest to use and most automated product in the market, resulting in reduced configuration and tuning time, and lower operating costs
- B1200i Overview: http://info.drobo.com/resources/b1200i
- The Automated Tiering Experience: http://www.drobo.com/resources/tiering.php
- Drobo for Business: http://www.drobo.com/products/drobosanbusiness.php
Availability
The new Drobo 12-Bay iSCSI SAN storage for business model B1200i is available now for purchase at http://www.Drobo.com and through select partners and resellers.
Just Delivered: Drobo FS 5-bay Network Storage
Subject: General Tech, Storage | June 20, 2011 - 09:06 PM | Ryan Shrout
Tagged: storage, raid, network attached storage, NAS, drobo
Just Delivered is a new section of PC Perspective where we share some of the goodies that pass through our labs that may or may not see a review, but are pretty cool none the less.
When the time is right for dedicated network storage and you don't want to go through the hassle or complication of building your own FreeNAS or other type of device, one of the best options on the market according to our own Allyn Malventano is a Drobo.
For an upcoming review we just received a new Drobo FS, the network attached version of the Drobo lineup. Available in both a standard and a "Pro" model, the former with 5 bays the latter with 8, they are about as idiot-proof and easy to setup as a NAS can be.
The Drobo FS only has a single connectivity option: the Gigabit Ethernet port for connection to your primed-and-ready router. Adding or swapping hard drives for larger models is super easy and the "BeyondRAID" technology makes it reliable as well as simple to use.
We are looking forward to putting the Drobo FS to the test in the coming days and reporting back to you on the performance, features and reliability of it.
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