FluxHQ - Rambings of Beings from a Parallel Universe

I caught a snippet the other day about a Silicon Valley startup, Data Robotics, on the BBC, and upon further investigation, I came across their product, Drobo. It’s essentially an external disk storage system, which makes all the configuration of multiple disk systems completely trivial to the user. All the user has to do is plug in Drobo to the USB port and plug some disks into the system. Disk removal and upgrades are also made completely trivial. I absolutely love the concept of not having to fuss with RAID settings, stripe size etc. Some of the other factors I like are the fact that there is no need for homogenity in disk sizes, mixing & matching is ok. Add to that the fact that there is no client software required to run this device makes it a win. Real-time swapping of disks without causing any downtime is also a cool feature. Data Robotics has a demo of the entire working of the Drobo on their website and for more in depth information check out the Arstechnica review.

One of the downsides is the relatively high price, $500 for just the unit sans any drives makes it a little out of the average consumer’s reach. I would also like to see other interfaces such as Firewire or eSata be an option. USB2.0 does not really make me want to run out and get one. But future iterations of the product are something I will look forward to.

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