Quote:
Originally Posted by McG
i have really looked at the drobo FS as my NAS device, and with a media server plug in i will get dlna abilities to the xbox and beyond. the beyondraid thing appeals alot. the proprietary data storage doesn't. it equally does time machine and windows. so that looks like a good solution for me at the moment. i need to see more critical reviews and other options to the drobo though...
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I was hung up on the proprietary nature of the Drobo too. I mitigated the risk I perceive there two ways - first, I bought the Instant Product Replacement plan for the unit at Memory Express, so I have hardware replacements available if needed (in theory...but I don’t depend on this aspect)
Second, I make sure that the contents of my Drobo are backed up to Mozy, which is $5 a month for all you can eat online backup. Yeah, the initial uploads take a long time, but you’ve got lots of time, 24 hours in a day, in fact.
This way, if the hardware dies, I can get it replaced. If I can’t get the hardware replaced, or BeyondRAID goes kerplooey, or it gets stolen, or whatever, I have the entire contents backed up offsite in the cloud, which I can either download again in stages, or simply pay to have the data shipped back to me on DVD.
So I’m at a point now with the Drobo where I feel I can comfortably use it as my primary home storage device, having eliminated the risk of some of my biggest fears about it. All in all, they are nice devices. Like you, the time savings of not fooling around with yet another file server or FreeNAS or any of that stuff was time I could re-invest elsewhere. FreeNAS is cool but so is my time
