If you’re looking for a no-nonsense, plug and play, easy to use multi-bay backup enclosure that can grow with you, there’s no better time than right now to consider the Drobo.
Through January 31st, Drobo is offering a $50 rebate on Drobo Firewire version units.
Function wise, the nice feature on these is the ability to mix the drives. With most RAID setups, the data is unstable if you’re not using the same make and capacity drives throughout the full enclosure. This means having to buy all the drives up front – which can really add up.
But with the Drobo, the internal “BeyondRAID” system allows for any capacity or manufacturer drive to be added or replaced in the system. As you run low on space, the Drobo lets you know and you can either add a additional drive, or if you’re out of room in the enclosure, upgrade your smaller drive for a larger one. Just pull out the smaller drive and put the larger one in. There’s no worry of data loss as the “BeyondRAID” system re-builds the drive you removed onto the new drive. Simple, easy and effective – the Drobo is the not-only-for-geeks RAID solution.