Thunderbolt Drobo 5D & Drobo Mini storage devices, might be the best HDD enclosures
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Whats so great about using a Drobo for backing up your personal data, you might ask?
By using Drobo’s signature ‘BeyondRAID’ technology, it allows for single-or dual-drive redundancy, all without the user having to worry too much about the system. It protects your data without any user interaction even in the event of multiple drive failures.
And now on top of that, you have the option to use Thunderbolt or USB 3.0 for lightning fast transfer speeds, which makes it perfect for the new MacBook Airs and Pros.
(Check out below for the best places to buy a Drobo for your Mac or PC)
You will have the option to choose between the larger Drobo 5D desktop enclosure or the smaller more portable, Drobo Mini.
Both Drobo storage devices will support the latest in Thunderbolt and USB 3.0 connectivity technology. You can connect up to six Thunderbolt devices and also add a non-Thunderbolt monitor, at the end of the chain. The bidirectional 10 Gbps performance speed of Thunderbolt allows all the devices in the chain to achieve maximum throughput.
All drives come with the Thunderbolt and USB 3.0 cables, so your Drobo is ready to be used right out of the box. Drobo is currently the only storage array that offers both Thunderbolt and USB 3.0 in one device.
The enclosures also feature a Drobo Accelerator Bay, which allows the user to add an optional mSATA SSD upgrade, in order to accelerate the performance of the storage array for high-capacity HDDs.
By using the high-performance flash in SSDs it can accelerate performance of applications such as Adobe Premiere and Apple’s Aperture for faster access to data. Drobo claims that there will be a 3x-6x performance boost over older models.
The 5D and Mini Drobo features a built in battery that protects data on the way to the drive. In case of a power failure, the battery will allow the data to be written to non-volatile storage where it will stay safe until the power comes back on. The battery maintains itself and is designed to last the life of the enclosure. This means you don’t have to worry about changing batteries every so often.
Both Drobo’s can handle multiple drives, they can be added or hot-swapped on-the-fly for storage expansion without ever having to power down the Drobo or computer. The new Drobo’s support drives of any capacity and no carriers or screws are needed to insert drives, the new design allows drives easily to click in and out.
These Drobo enclosures can be used on both Windows PC and/or OS X Mac computers, they are backwards compatible with any computer running Mac OS X or Windows.
The Drobo 5D
The larger Drobo 5D is a desktop-based storage device that has five 3.5-inch drive bays. Each drive bay can be used with SSD’s instead, for maximum performance.
With its dual Thunderbolt ports, you can easily daisy-chain up to five more Drobo 5D arrays. With that type of Thunderbolt connectivity, you would be able to store up to 96 TB of storage.
In order to save energy and make the Drobo 5D quieter than its previous models, the company has added the ability to configure the Drobo to spin down its drives when they're not in use. Also, a tuned variable-speed cooling fan has been added for extra quietness.
Drobo 5D Desktop Hardisk Enclosure features (DRDR5A21)
- Desktop HD Enclosure
- Holds 5 x 3.5' SATA I/II/III HDDs
- Holds 1 x mSATA SSD
- Thunderbolt / USB 3.0
- Includes Thunderbolt / USB 3.0 Cables
- Any Drive/Manufacturer/Speed/Spindle
- Battery Backup
- Hot Swappable Drives
The Drobo Mini
The Drobo Mini is a great enclosure for those that need tons of memory storage on the go. The Mini, features the same BeyondRAID technology the 5D has to offer but just in a miniaturized package.
The enclosure is made from metallic carbon fiber with a rubberized finish, giving the Drobo Mini a rugged feel.
You can pack the Mini with up to four 2.5-inch drives (the same drives used in most laptops), for a total of 3TB of storage. The drives are hot-swappable, so you can swap them in and out whenever you want. When fully packed with drives, the Mini comes weighing in at just 3 pounds.
Drobo also offers an optional carrying case that holds the Drobo Mini, power supply, and connectivity cables for $49.
In order to keep capacity of the Drobo at a maximum, the Drobo Accelerator Bay accepts an mSATA SSD, this will allow all four 2.5" drive bays to add high-capacity HDDs.
Drobo Mini Portable RAID features (DR-MINI-1A21)
- Portable RAID
- Holds 4 x 2.5" SATA I/II/III Drives
- Holds 1 x mSATA SSD
- Thunderbolt / USB 3.0
- Includes Thunderbolt / 3.0 Cables
- Any Drive/Manufacturer/Speed/Spindle
- Battery Backup
- Hot Swappable Drives
Best Places to buy a Drobo:
Drobo.com
Buy a Drobo 5D from these trusted websites:
Adorama.com
Amazon.com
B&H.com
Buy a Drobo Mini from these trusted Websites:
Adorama.com
Amazon.com
B&H.com
Check out the Drobo Video below, showing off its Thunderbolt features.
Drobo’s Press Release:
Today is a very big day for owners and fans of Drobo who have been waiting for new levels of performance, flexibility, and portability. Announced last month, the new Drobo 5D and Drobo Mini with Thunderbolt, USB 3.0, and SSD acceleration are now available for pre-orders from select partners and our very own online DroboStore.
The initial demand for these products has been about twice the level of any other product that we've ever introduced, so if you're interested in getting one of the new Drobos - and we hope you are - make sure to place your pre-order to ensure your spot in line.
Pricing for the Drobo Mini starts at $649, the Drobo 5D starts at $849 - prices include a Thunderbolt cable and NEW 2-year standard warranty. An optional custom carrying case is available for the Mini at $49. Regional pricing for those of you outside the US is available from international partners and our online DroboStore.
We have more detailed information on the new Drobo 5D and Mini at www.drobo.com
Source: Drobo’s Website
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