Drobo
Private | |
Industry |
Computer hardware Computer data storage |
Founded | San Jose, California, U.S. (May 2005 ) |
Founder |
Geoff Barrall Julian Terry |
Headquarters | San Jose, California, U.S. |
Area served | Worldwide |
Key people | Tom Buiocchi, CEO |
Products | Drobo |
Website |
drobo |
Drobo is a family of external storage devices for computers. They are made in a variety of types including DAS, SAN, and NAS appliances made by Connected Data, Inc. Drobo devices can house up to four, five, eight, or twelve 3.5" or 2.5" Serial ATA or Serial Attached SCSI hard disk drives and connect with a computer or network via USB 2.0, USB 3.0, FireWire 800, eSATA, Gigabit Ethernet or Thunderbolt. Drobo devices are primarily designed to allow installation and removal of hard disk drives without requiring manual data migration, and also for increasing storage capacity of the unit without downtime. The company Drobo, Inc. changed its name from Data Robotics in 2011 since the familiarity with the Drobo name (which until then had only been the name of their product line) far exceeded the Data Robotics name.[1] Drobo, Inc. merged with Connected Data, Inc. in June 2013, with the new company taking the Connected Data name.
Products
Overview
Consumer models
Drobo (1st) | Drobo (2nd) | Drobo (3rd) | Drobo S | Drobo S (2nd) | Drobo 5D | Drobo FS | Drobo 5N | Drobo Mini | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Model Number | DR04DD10 | DR04DD14 | DDR3A21 | DRDR3A21 | DRDR4A21 | DRDR5A21 | DRDS2A21 | DRDS4A21 | DR-Mini-1P11 |
Release Date | 5 June 2007 | 8 July 2008 | 28 May 2014 | 23 November 2009 | 16 November 2010 | 2 November 2012 | 6 April 2010 | 13 December 2012 | 26 October 2012 |
Status | Discontinued | Discontinued | Available | Discontinued | Discontinued | Available | Discontinued | Available | Available |
Type | DAS | DAS | DAS | DAS | DAS | DAS | NAS | NAS | DAS |
Drive Bays | 4 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 5+1* | 5 | 5+1* | 4+1* |
Redundancy | Single drive | Single drive | Single or dual drive | Single or dual drive | Single or dual drive | Single or dual drive | Single or dual drive | Single or dual drive | Single or dual drive |
Hosts | Single | Single | Single | Single | Single | Single | Up to 10 users | Single | |
Data-Aware Tiering | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | No | Yes | Yes |
USB | 2.0 | 2.0 | 3.0 | 2.0 | 3.0 | 3.0 | No | No | 3.0 |
FireWire 800 | No | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No |
Gigabit Ethernet | No | No | No | No | No | No | 1x (AFP and CIFS/SMB) | 1x (AFP and CIFS/SMB) | No |
eSATA | No | No | No | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No |
Thunderbolt | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | No | No | Yes |
*Plus one mSATA SSD slot for Data-Aware Tiering[2]
Business models
DroboPro | DroboPro FS | B800fs | DroboElite | B800i | B1200i | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Model Number | DRPR1A21 | DRDS3A21 | DR-B800FS-4A21 | DREL1A21 | DR-B800I-2A21 | DRB1200I1A21 |
Release Date | 7 April 2009 | 5 October 2010 | 8 February 2011 | 23 November 2009 | 8 February 2011 | 8 February 2011 |
Status | Discontinued | Discontinued | Available | Discontinued | Available | Available |
Type | DAS | NAS | NAS | SAN | SAN | SAN |
Drive Bays | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 12 |
Redundancy | Single or dual drive | Single or dual drive | Single or dual drive | Single or dual drive | Single or dual drive | Single or dual drive |
Hosts | Single | Up to 25 users | Up to 100 users | Up to 16 | Up to 8 | Up to 24 |
Data-Aware Tiering | No | No | No | No | No | Yes |
USB | 2.0 | No | No | 2.0, Admin only | 2.0, Admin only | No |
FireWire 800 | Yes | No | No | No | No | No |
Gigabit Ethernet | 1x (iSCSI) | 2x (AFP and CIFS/SMB) | 2x (AFP and CIFS/SMB) | 2x (iSCSI) | 2x (iSCSI) | 3x (iSCSI) and 1x (Management) |
eSATA | No | No | No | No | No | No |
Thunderbolt | No | No | No | No | No | No |
2nd Generation
In July 2008, Drobo announced a 2nd generation model, [3][4] which offered a faster core processor, optimized firmware, better USB 2.0 performance and a pair of FireWire 800 ports, which are compatible with FireWire 400-to-800 cables and adapters.
Firmware is available to support drives in excess of 3TB (firmware v1.4.0.).[5][6]
Technical Specifications
- Marvell 500 MHz System-on-a-chip (SOC) processor (Marvell 88F5281-D0)
- Includes support for PCI-X, PCI Express, Gigabit Ethernet, USB 2.0, DDR2 32bit 200mhz
- Based on Marvell Feroceon RISC core (ARMv5TE)
- Same processor used in the Apple Time Capsule and in several other NAS devices
- Marvell PCI-X 4-Port SATA-II Controller (Marvell 88SX6042-BCZ1)
- 1 GB RAM (2x Hynix H5PS5162FFR 512Mb DDR2 SDRAM 2-5-5-5)
- 128 Mb NOR flash memory (Spansion GL128P90FFIR2 90 nm, 25ns page access, 90ns random access)
- 64 Macrocell PLD (Programmable Logic Device - XILINX XC2C64A
- 3 Port Firewire 800 (1394b) controller (TI XIO2213AZAY - PCI Express)
- 45 mAh Manganese rechargeable lithium NVRAM battery (ML2020 - 3V)
- DC cooling fan (2-wire brushless)
DroboPro
In early 2009, Drobo announced a new model called the DroboPro which is physically larger than the Drobo and offers the option of being mounted in a 19-inch rack. The DroboPro has the increased capacity of 8 drive bays rather than 4 in the original model, giving a 32 TB theoretical maximum with the current 4 TB drives. It also adds "Dual Disk Redundancy" akin to RAID 6. iSCSI via Gigabit Ethernet has been added alongside existing USB and FireWire 800/400 interfaces. However, the iSCSI implementation currently only supports connection to a single server[7] and unlike the Drobo FS, the Ethernet interface cannot be used for other networking protocols such as NFS, FTP, or SMB.
DroboElite
On 23 November 2009, Drobo added a new model to its product line, called DroboElite. Its main difference versus the DroboPro is that it allows simultaneous access for up to 16 hosts, via two iSCSI ports. The Elite version also supports up to 255 volumes (vs. 16 in the Pro version).[8]
Drobo FS
Drobo FS launched at Tech Field Day in May 2010.[9] The key difference with the 'S' models as well as the 'first' and 'second' generation models is the LAN port i.e. Ethernet RJ45 (without the requirement of a Drobo network interface).
5 HDD slots available.
It provides up to 10.89TB of storage when using 5 HDDs of 3TB. This is less than the sum of the drives because of fault tolerance.
Dual disk redundancy will reduce the possible storage capacity to 8.17TB.
Larger capacity drives greater than 2TB are automatically supported as they become available.[10]
Specifications
Processor : ARM926EJ-S rev 0 (v5l) MemTotal : 189028 kB
Drobo 800fs, 800i, 1200i
On February 8, 2011, Drobo updated its business hardware suite, discontinuing older models for three new ones: 800fs, 800i, and 1200i. The latter two are storage-area networks, with 8 bays for the 800i and 12 bays for the 1200i, respectively. The lower-case i stands for iSCSI.[11]
Drobo Mini
Shortly after updating their business hardware suite, Drobo also updated their professional hardware suite. Designed for mobile photographers, Drobo Mini was made available on October 12, 2012.[12] The Mini retained many features of earlier Drobo models, including single and dual-drive redundancy, while introducing several new features, such as Thunderbolt ports.[13]
Drobo 5D
Released shortly after the Drobo Mini, the Drobo 5D continued Drobo's attempted capture of the professional photographer market.[14]
Software
Kernel :Linux Drobo-FS 2.6.22.18
BusyBox v1.14.2 (2009-07-29 17:47:47 PDT) multi-call binary
Current DroboApps on the official website:
Application | Version |
---|---|
DroboAdmin | 1.3 |
Apache HTTP Server | 1.3.41_1 |
CTorrent | dnh3.3.2_1 |
Dropbear | 0.52_1 but D/L file is _2 |
Firefly Media Server | 0.2.4.2_2 |
Fuppes | r578_1 |
lighttpd | 1.4.26_1 |
Pure-FTPd | 1.0.28_1 |
rsync | 3.0.7_1 |
Unfsd | 0.9.22_1 |
Wake-On-LAN | 1.09_1 |
Perl | v5.10.0 |
Perl is the underlying programming language for the DroboApps.
All apps are specific for each type of Drobo.
Features
- Data protection for all drives, as Drobo controls any access to the data.
- Recognizes and utilizes newly added storage devices on the fly.
- Hard drives do not need to be matched in terms of capacity, speed, or manufacturer.
- The drives appear as one unified drive to the host operating system without requiring the installation of the management software on the host.
- Supported file systems: HFS Plus, NTFS, ext3 and FAT32 DDR3A31 only supports HFS+ and NTFS, according to data sheet.
- File system redundancy is managed by a virtualization layer which lays data out in a proprietary Drobo format.
- Second FireWire port allows a user to daisy-chain multiple Drobos up to a computer. Each Drobo mounts as a separate system on the computer.
- With the addition of the Drobo FS network-attached storage (NAS) add-on, functionality can be added via open-source software. Examples are iTunes music server functionality, UPnP/DLNA support, and FTP access.
BeyondRAID
Drobo, Inc. implements a storage technology that they call BeyondRAID in their Drobo storage devices. While not a true RAID ISO spec extension, it does provide for using up to 12 SATA hard drives in the devices and consolidating them into one big pool of storage. It has the advantage of being able to use multiple disk sizes at once, much like a spanned volume/volume set or the Synology Hybrid RAID, while providing redundancy for all disks and allowing a hot-swap upgrade at any time. Internally it uses a mix of techniques similar to RAID 1 and RAID 5. Depending on the amount of data stored on the unit in relation to the installed capacity, it may be able to survive up to 3 drive failures, if the "array" can be restored onto the remaining good disks before another drive fails. The amount of usable storage in a Drobo unit can be approximated by adding up the capacities of all the disks and subtracting the capacity of the largest disk. For example, if a 5, 4, 2, and 1 TB drive were installed, the approximate usable capacity would be 5+4+2+1-(5)=7 TB of usable space. Internally the data would be distributed in two RAID 5-like arrays and one RAID 1-like set:
Drives | 1 TB | 2 TB | 4 TB | 5 TB | ---------- | x | unusable space (1 TB) ---------- ------------------- | A1 | A1 | RAID 1 set (2× 1 TB) ------------------- ------------------- | B1 | B1 | RAID 1 set (2× 1 TB) ------------------- ---------------------------- | C1 | C2 | Cp | RAID 5 array (3× 1 TB) ---------------------------- ------------------------------------- | D1 | D2 | D3 | Dp | RAID 5 array (4× 1 TB) -------------------------------------
With the introduction of the DroboPro, a RAID6 like feature was also introduced. BeyondRAID also has the ability to perform hash-based compression using 160-bit SHA1 hashes to maximize storage efficiency.
Detailed technical information about BeyondRAID, including how it handles adding and removing drives, can be found in the patent application at the US Patent Office, US Patent Application No. 20070266037 .
Customer Support
Back in 2008, the Drobo was initially criticized for lacking an Ethernet port,[15] preventing it from being used as a self-contained NAS appliance. These complaints have been addressed with the release of the DroboShare physical add-on, and the release of the Drobo FS and DroboPro FS, Drobo 5N dedicated NAS versions.
Like all RAID systems, disks will format specifically to Drobo format and cannot be mounted or read on any other system, though data recovery is possible from a professional data recovery service.[16] As Drobo repair is not readily available from anyone other than Drobo, users of older units who wish to retain data saved on an older Drobo can purchase a new unit if a problem arises, as direct migration between certain Drobo products is available.[17] Customers can also purchase a DroboCare extended support plan to extend entitlement to technical support troubleshooting, repair, and hardware replacement.[18]
Competitors and Alternatives
Other companies, for example QNAP, Netgear, Seagate, and Synology, offer similar virtualised redundancy features under different brand names.[19] Microsoft Windows 8 and Server 2012 includes similar functionality built-in with Storage Spaces.
Netgear's X-RAID,[20][21] Lacie's SimplyRAID[22] and Synology's Hybrid RAID[23] allow the user to expand their storage using hard drives of different capacities and without reformatting the whole array in the process.
References
- ↑ "Data Robotics officially changes name, moves to San Jose - San Jose Mercury News". Mercurynews.com. Retrieved 2014-08-23.
- ↑ "Drobo Mini, Drobo Mini Review, Drobo Storage Products, Drobo Inc". Drobo.com. Retrieved 2014-08-23.
- ↑ Smith, Tony (2008-07-08). "Drobo 'data robot' revamped with Firewire | Register Hardware". Reghardware.co.uk. Retrieved 2014-08-23.
- ↑ Data Robotics, Inc
- ↑
- ↑ "Does Drobo support drives larger than 2TB?". Support.drobo.com. 2013-08-13. Retrieved 2014-08-23.
- ↑ "FAQ on Drobo website". Support.datarobotics.com. Retrieved 2014-08-23.
- ↑ PC Perspective - Drobo 'Model S' and 'Elite' models hit the streets
- ↑ "Drobo announces their new Drobo FS". January 2011.
- ↑ "Does Drobo support drives larger than 2TB". January 2012.
- ↑ "Drobo | Using Drobo iSCSI with VMWare". Drobobusiness.com. 2013-04-03. Retrieved 2014-08-23.
- ↑ "Blog". Blog.drobo.com. 2014-06-17. Retrieved 2014-08-23.
- ↑
- ↑ "Blog". Blog.drobo.com. 2014-06-17. Retrieved 2014-08-23.
- ↑ Hruska, Joel (2008-01-15). "arstechnica comment on release of DroboShare". Arstechnica.com. Retrieved 2014-08-23.
- ↑ http://www.storage-switzerland.com/Articles/Entries/2013/5/13_Demystifying_RAID.html. Missing or empty
|title=
(help) - ↑ http://www.drobo.com/resource-center/migration/
- ↑ http://www.drobo.com/storage-products/drobo-care/
- ↑ "RAID Made Easy - PC World Magazine New Zealand". Pcworld.co.nz. 2010-04-17. Retrieved 2014-08-23.
- ↑ "What is X-RAID and how does it work with my ReadyNAS OS 6 storage system?". Kb.netgear.com. Retrieved 2014-08-23.
- ↑ April 18, 2008 (2008-04-18). "X-RAID — RAID for the rest of us : ReadyNAS by NETGEAR". Readynas.com. Retrieved 2014-08-23.
- ↑ "LaCie 5big NAS Pro review". CNET. Retrieved 2014-08-23.
- ↑ Synology Inc. "What is Synology Hybrid RAID - Synology - Network Attached Storage (NAS)". Synology. Retrieved 2014-08-23.