Drobo: a better way to serve your stuff

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Thomas Hawk raves about his Drobo. At PodTech we have one too and did an interview yesterday with the folks who make Drobo which won’t be up for a few weeks. I plan on buying a LOT more for our video editors because it ensures our data is safely stored on multiple disk drives, which will protect us if a drive dies. I’ll try to get the video up cause it’s a lot better to have a discussion about this thing after you see video of it working, but Thomas does a good job of explaining what it does.

UPDATE: I just was reading my feeds and found Sal Cangeloso, who links to a bunch of Drobo stuff (now you can see why it’s important to read my feeds, Sal’s post and Engadget’s “must read” review wasn’t on TechMeme or Digg yet — Sal said it was must read, I agree).

Of course I put the best posts up on my link blog.

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I give you a front-row seat on the future. Focusing most of my efforts now on next-generation augmented reality and artificial intelligence, AKA "mixed reality." SUBSCRIBE TO MY NEWSLETTER: http://clevermoe.com/scobleizer-news/ BUY OUR NEW BOOK: https://www.amazon.com/Fourth-Transformation-Robert-Scoble/dp/1539894444 "The Fourth Transformation: How augmented reality and artificial intelligence will change everything." WATCH MY LATEST SPEECHES: State of VR with Philip Rosedale (done in VR itself, very cool): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zAA1EVGUZU At GEOINT, June 2017: http://trajectorymagazine.com/glimpse-new-world/ Augmented World Expo, June 2017: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l4xHILvLD8E At Leade.rs, April 2017: https://youtu.be/52_0JshgjXI +++++++++++ BIO: Scoble gives you a front-row seat on the future. Literally. He had the first ride in the first Tesla. Siri was launched in his house. He's been the first to share all sorts of technologies and companies with you, from Flipboard to Pandora to Instagram. Today he's focusing on mixed reality, AKA "next-generation augmented reality" which will include a new user interface for EVERYTHING in your life (IoT, Smart Cities, driverless cars, robots, drones, etc). That's based on his view thanks to his past experience as futurist at Rackspace. Best place to find Scoble? On his Facebook profile at https://www.facebook.com/RobertScoble He has been a technology blogger since 2000, was one of five people who built Microsoft's Channel 9 video blog/community, worked at Fast Company Magazine running its TV efforts, and has been part of technology media businesses since 1993. ++++++++ SPEAKER PITCH: Apple and Facebook now have revealed their Augmented Reality strategies, which means your business needs one too. Rely on Robert Scoble, the world's top authority on AR, to bring to your conference what businesses should do next. SPEECH ABSTRACT #1: TITLE: The Fourth Transformation: What's next in mixed reality (AR and AI) and the future of technology? Here's an example of this talk at Leade.rs in Paris in April, 2017: https://youtu.be/52_0JshgjXI Why "the Fourth Transformation?" Soon we will have phones and glasses that do full on augmented reality. Everything you look at will potentially be augmented. This world is coming in late 2017 with a new iPhone from Apple, amongst other products. Microsoft is betting everything on its HoloLens glasses that do mixed reality and the industry is spending many billions of dollars in R&D and funding new companies like Magic Leap. This future will be the user interface for IoT, Smart Cities, autonomous cars, robots, drones, and your TV. This is a big deal and Robert will take you through what mixed reality is and how it will change every business. Learn more about Robert's speaking style and contact his agent at http://odemanagement.com/robert-scoble/Robert-Scoble.html ++++++++ SPEECH ABSTRACT #2: "The Next Two Clicks of Moore's Law." Over the next four years, or two clicks of Moore's Law, a ton about our technology world will change. Scoble will bring you the best from his travels visiting R&D labs, startups, and innovators around the world. He views the world through his rose-colored-mixed-reality glasses, which will be the new user interface for self driving cars, Smart Cities, IoT, and many other things in our world. He'll send you off with some lessons for companies both large and small. ++++++++ SPEECH ABSTRACT #3: "Personalized Meaning: What is Augmented Reality For?" As we enter a far more technological world where even cars drive themselves, I predict we'll see a blowback toward the analog, more authentic world. What role does augmented reality play in both worlds? Get Scoble's insight into where augmented reality is going, see tons of real-world demos, and understand what he means by 'personalized meaning.' CONTACT: If you are looking to contact me, email is best: scobleizer@gmail.com. ++++++++ ENDORSEMENTS: IZEA Top 25 Tech Influencers: https://izea.com/2017/07/07/25-top-tech-influencers/ Time: One of the top 140 Twitterers! FT: One of the five most influential Twitterers! Inc. Top 5 on list of Tech Power Players You Need to Know: http://www.inc.com/john-rampton/30-power-players-in-tech-you-need-to-know.html Next Reality: #4 on top 50 AR influencer list: https://next.reality.news/news/nr50-next-realitys-50-people-watch-augmented-mixed-reality-0177454/

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38 thoughts on “Drobo: a better way to serve your stuff”

  1. Drobo seems cool, but given that Windows Home Server does this and more, why use Drobo?

    Advantages to WHS over Drobo:

    1) automated backup of all my machines on my network (all Windows PCs, no mac support). Every single bit on disk… and since it uses Single Instance Store, only a single file is stored even if it exists on more than 2 machine. If you have a Mac, you can still use things like Retrospect to back the data up to the exposed file shares.

    2) Configurable duplication of shares on the drive. I have my pictures duplicated but not my music

    3) add and remove drives at will, all accessible under a single drive letter.

    4) Remote Access to all my computers behind the firewall. This means I can get to my MCE box behind the firewall w/o any complex port forwarding and whatnot.

    5) Relay service so I can access my machine at a given URL regardless of its internal IP address on my network

    6) Configuration of routers via UPnP…

    7) Ability to upload/download/access any files on my server through a secure web site (the server).

    Like

  2. Drobo seems cool, but given that Windows Home Server does this and more, why use Drobo?

    Advantages to WHS over Drobo:

    1) automated backup of all my machines on my network (all Windows PCs, no mac support). Every single bit on disk… and since it uses Single Instance Store, only a single file is stored even if it exists on more than 2 machine. If you have a Mac, you can still use things like Retrospect to back the data up to the exposed file shares.

    2) Configurable duplication of shares on the drive. I have my pictures duplicated but not my music

    3) add and remove drives at will, all accessible under a single drive letter.

    4) Remote Access to all my computers behind the firewall. This means I can get to my MCE box behind the firewall w/o any complex port forwarding and whatnot.

    5) Relay service so I can access my machine at a given URL regardless of its internal IP address on my network

    6) Configuration of routers via UPnP…

    7) Ability to upload/download/access any files on my server through a secure web site (the server).

    Like

  5. “I plan on buying a LOT more for our video editors because it ensures our data is safely stored on multiple disk drives”

    I thought Rocky was your video editor, so why the (s) ??

    “Home Server sounds really great. Can I buy one? How much? How much configuration does it need?”

    I’m fine with the new 24″ iMac I bought at FutureShop.
    I trust it way enough not to buy a drobo and the HDD is plenty big. That and NFS backup to the office server is cheaper and fast. You don’t need home server, you already have Ubuntu. Just hook up a few more IDE or SATA drives and mount the server as NFS from your Mac.

    Like

  6. “I plan on buying a LOT more for our video editors because it ensures our data is safely stored on multiple disk drives”

    I thought Rocky was your video editor, so why the (s) ??

    “Home Server sounds really great. Can I buy one? How much? How much configuration does it need?”

    I’m fine with the new 24″ iMac I bought at FutureShop.
    I trust it way enough not to buy a drobo and the HDD is plenty big. That and NFS backup to the office server is cheaper and fast. You don’t need home server, you already have Ubuntu. Just hook up a few more IDE or SATA drives and mount the server as NFS from your Mac.

    Like

  7. I think that what makes the Drobo appealing to me is it’s relatively inexpensive price and simplicity comparred to other server alternatives.

    Most servers cost more money than the Drobo and require some level of technical expertise to configure and get up and running.

    The Drobo is more like an external hard drive that you just plug in with a USB cable and you’re pretty much good to go. Nothing to set up or configure.

    While there may be better server sort of alternatives for hardcore geeks, I’m guessing that this product will fill a gap for those non geeks who simply want to easily plug something in and have it work.

    To this end it kind of reminds me of a TiVo vs. my Microsoft Media Center PC. The Media Center PC can record TV like the TiVo and in fact do a heck of a lot more. But it’s more expensive and ends up being much more trouble (crashes, things not working right, restarts etc.) to me than my TiVo which I’ve had plugged in now for probably a year and a half with never so much as a glitch.

    It’s not that TiVo does something (read record TV) any better than Microsoft Media Center does, it’s just that the TiVo is cheaper and far, far, simplier to use and for some consumers this is going to be more important.

    Omar, you probably make some excellent points about why your own server might be better, but I bet you that 95% of consumers would have no idea what you are saying when they read your points.

    Consumers do understand though the need for their photos to be safe and backed up and this is what the Drobo promises them in a super simple way.

    Like

  8. I think that what makes the Drobo appealing to me is it’s relatively inexpensive price and simplicity comparred to other server alternatives.

    Most servers cost more money than the Drobo and require some level of technical expertise to configure and get up and running.

    The Drobo is more like an external hard drive that you just plug in with a USB cable and you’re pretty much good to go. Nothing to set up or configure.

    While there may be better server sort of alternatives for hardcore geeks, I’m guessing that this product will fill a gap for those non geeks who simply want to easily plug something in and have it work.

    To this end it kind of reminds me of a TiVo vs. my Microsoft Media Center PC. The Media Center PC can record TV like the TiVo and in fact do a heck of a lot more. But it’s more expensive and ends up being much more trouble (crashes, things not working right, restarts etc.) to me than my TiVo which I’ve had plugged in now for probably a year and a half with never so much as a glitch.

    It’s not that TiVo does something (read record TV) any better than Microsoft Media Center does, it’s just that the TiVo is cheaper and far, far, simplier to use and for some consumers this is going to be more important.

    Omar, you probably make some excellent points about why your own server might be better, but I bet you that 95% of consumers would have no idea what you are saying when they read your points.

    Consumers do understand though the need for their photos to be safe and backed up and this is what the Drobo promises them in a super simple way.

    Like

  15. Thomas, the whole point of WHS is to offer a non technical user a headless device to install on the network.

    WHS does not require a monitor and keyboard. It’s more like an appliance. You just install some client software on each machine you want backed up and you are done.

    Take a look at the HP MediaSmart server I referenced above as an example.

    How exactly does the Drobo get information from each PC to the server? Do consumers understand file shares and drag and drop? My parents don’t. WHS just backs things up automatgically.

    Of course, this explains it much better than my geek view of things:

    http://www.winsupersite.com/reviews/whs_preview.asp

    Like

  16. Thomas, the whole point of WHS is to offer a non technical user a headless device to install on the network.

    WHS does not require a monitor and keyboard. It’s more like an appliance. You just install some client software on each machine you want backed up and you are done.

    Take a look at the HP MediaSmart server I referenced above as an example.

    How exactly does the Drobo get information from each PC to the server? Do consumers understand file shares and drag and drop? My parents don’t. WHS just backs things up automatgically.

    Of course, this explains it much better than my geek view of things:

    http://www.winsupersite.com/reviews/whs_preview.asp

    Like

  17. Omar,
    Scoble’s on OSX, so how could he possibly get an advantage out of home server over simply mounting a location on his already running Ubuntu server from his Mac?

    So instead of popping a couple more SATAs into the office server and mounting it from the Mac work stations. They have to
    A. Buy another server
    B. install Windows software on it
    C. Deal with BSOD and all the other nicities of Microsoft, plus it’s still beta?

    That seems like a raw deal to me. He’d almost be better off with the drobos.

    Like

  18. Omar,
    Scoble’s on OSX, so how could he possibly get an advantage out of home server over simply mounting a location on his already running Ubuntu server from his Mac?

    So instead of popping a couple more SATAs into the office server and mounting it from the Mac work stations. They have to
    A. Buy another server
    B. install Windows software on it
    C. Deal with BSOD and all the other nicities of Microsoft, plus it’s still beta?

    That seems like a raw deal to me. He’d almost be better off with the drobos.

    Like

  19. I apologize. I think the disconnect here is that the drobo and WHS is for home use. At work you need to share and back up certain files, such as video in this case. Such is not the case with home users, where they want their whole computer backed up and updated as soon as there is a file system notification.

    Like

  20. I apologize. I think the disconnect here is that the drobo and WHS is for home use. At work you need to share and back up certain files, such as video in this case. Such is not the case with home users, where they want their whole computer backed up and updated as soon as there is a file system notification.

    Like

  21. Chris, yes, these are home products. Small Biz or Big Biz have different requirements.

    Regarding the OS X issue. In both cases, the net is the same. You have to run software on your Mac to backup to the drives/server.

    Like

  22. WHS might be nice for a small home network, if it ever ships, but it does nothing for giving you fast access to resilient desktop storage.

    Like

  23. Chris, yes, these are home products. Small Biz or Big Biz have different requirements.

    Regarding the OS X issue. In both cases, the net is the same. You have to run software on your Mac to backup to the drives/server.

    Like

  24. WHS might be nice for a small home network, if it ever ships, but it does nothing for giving you fast access to resilient desktop storage.

    Like

  25. From what I have read so far Microsoft have said that WHS is going to be OEM only? So you have to buy a machine with it on, or find a company that resells OEM licenses.

    I don’t see that WHS & Drobo cover the same market. WHS aiming for simple backup for non-techies vs Drobo which requires you to install your own drives?

    Like

  26. From what I have read so far Microsoft have said that WHS is going to be OEM only? So you have to buy a machine with it on, or find a company that resells OEM licenses.

    I don’t see that WHS & Drobo cover the same market. WHS aiming for simple backup for non-techies vs Drobo which requires you to install your own drives?

    Like

  29. Mack: I disagree. I need local storage, not network storage. Why? Because we often move our machines to different locations. For instance, the CES BlogHaus, or Rocky’s house, or mine. We have VERY FEW network resources that we need too.

    Like

  30. Mack: I disagree. I need local storage, not network storage. Why? Because we often move our machines to different locations. For instance, the CES BlogHaus, or Rocky’s house, or mine. We have VERY FEW network resources that we need too.

    Like

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  32. Okay, that makes sense – I guess I didn’t understand your requirements. I still think the Infrant is a better bet for those of us who don’t move the device once it’s plugged in!

    Like

  33. Okay, that makes sense – I guess I didn’t understand your requirements. I still think the Infrant is a better bet for those of us who don’t move the device once it’s plugged in!

    Like

  34. I got excited once I saw Drobo, was ready to buy a few to play with, until I realized it was USB only. D’oh! Where’s my GigE?

    Interestingly, with ZFS, you could build a box that would “automatically” do Drobo’s neatest trick – storaage resizing. Apparently they didn’t use ZFS, but anyone else mildly technical could…

    So instead of buying Drobos, which I’d rather do if they had GigE, we’ll be building a few ZFS boxes. Oh well.

    Like

  35. I got excited once I saw Drobo, was ready to buy a few to play with, until I realized it was USB only. D’oh! Where’s my GigE?

    Interestingly, with ZFS, you could build a box that would “automatically” do Drobo’s neatest trick – storaage resizing. Apparently they didn’t use ZFS, but anyone else mildly technical could…

    So instead of buying Drobos, which I’d rather do if they had GigE, we’ll be building a few ZFS boxes. Oh well.

    Like

  36. Video editors need a firewire connection for video editing. USB2 is faster, in theory, yes, but it is only in burst speeds. Compare this to the constant high-speed of firewire which will keep our editing programs from slowing to a crawl.

    Like

  37. Video editors need a firewire connection for video editing. USB2 is faster, in theory, yes, but it is only in burst speeds. Compare this to the constant high-speed of firewire which will keep our editing programs from slowing to a crawl.

    Like

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