Time Machine and iTunes stored on a Drobo

[amardilo]

Hi there. Does anyone have a Drobo? If so does anyone have any thoughts on it?

My current iTune library is stored on an external HDD by itself and is about to run out of space and I wanted to back up my system using Time Machine.

I am looking at getting a Drobo as I like the idea of expandable hard drive space (i.e. I need extra space so I pop out an existing HDD and insert a bigger one) and it should help with hard drive crashes - last time this happened I lost my iTunes library and it took ages to re-rip all my albums.

Could I have a Time Machine back up and my iTunes library on the same Drobo without partitioning the drive (the iTunes library will not be backed up)?

On a side note I have 2 500GB Western Digital MyBook Pro. Could I open those up (once I have transferred the data and iTunes library to Drobo) and then wipe them and use the hard drives inside as part of my Drobo hard drives? The link/PDF here looks like I can but I wanted to make sure.

[JayBird]

Simple answer is yes to both those questions

[amardilo]

That's great news thanks for your help.

[stuart07970]

Any other comments on the DROBO?

Is it really as good as it looks?

Am I really stupid for not buying one beacause it dosn't have firewire?

[waynertron]

Originally Posted by stuart07970

Any other comments on the DROBO?

Is it really as good as it looks?

Am I really stupid for not buying one beacause it dosn't have firewire?

I suspect you're right to wait for a faster FW800 or eSata one.

I'm thinking of getting one though, to plug into my Airport Extreme. Could be just the job as I've not had much luck with external drives.

[Logic Paul]

Hi,
I have one of them that I used for testing and I was impresed. The data remins available as long as you have sufficient capacity left in the remaining drives when one fails. You also dont have to wait for the data to rebuid when you replace a drive or swap out for a larger one.
You can connect two drobo units to a drobo share and stick it on the network. No config needed.
Windows will only see a 2TB drive regardless of the drives installed but you can use the drobo dashboard to view capaity or just look at the blue lights at the front to see how much isused.
Also it is very quiet even when the fan kicks in.


Hope this helps.

Paul.

[dejongj]

Originally Posted by stuart07970

Any other comments on the DROBO?

Is it really as good as it looks?

Am I really stupid for not buying one beacause it dosn't have firewire?

that is the same reason why I have bought one yet. I would like it to move my iMovie events to it. And so far with external drives and moving large files I have always noted a big difference favourable to even fw400 compared to usb2.

I am wondering whether I am silly too waiting?

[Logic Paul]

I have all my movies and music on one along with my regular backups. I run the movies directly from Drobo and it plays no problem. Most of the files are 1GB avi type files so could not say if HD movie would cause a problem.
iTunes works fine also.

[amardilo]

Originally Posted by dejongj

that is the same reason why I have bought one yet. I would like it to move my iMovie events to it. And so far with external drives and moving large files I have always noted a big difference favourable to even fw400 compared to usb2.

I am wondering whether I am silly too waiting?

Too be honest if it had a Firewire 400 I would have bought one sooner but I am running low on external HDD space so I am now just about to order one some time next week.

[Logic Paul]

Originally Posted by amardilo

Too be honest if it had a Firewire 400 I would have bought one sooner but I am running low on external HDD space so I am now just about to order one some time next week.

Later versions may come with firewire but as long as the drives you get are 7200RPM or above preformance should not be an issue. I've watched movies on it while the unit was rebuilding a drive and no lag or jumping.
Let us know what you think when you get one. Would also be intrested to know what apps you are running that you think may suffer from USB2 as the main question people ask me when buying is relating to speed but nothing I run causes any issues..
Cheers.
P

[dejongj]

Originally Posted by LogicIT Paul

I have all my movies and music on one along with my regular backups. I run the movies directly from Drobo and it plays no problem. Most of the files are 1GB avi type files so could not say if HD movie would cause a problem.
iTunes works fine also.

Thanks appreciate that...Unfortunately streaming movies is quite different that random access for video editing etc...I can't see any reason why HD streaming wouldn't work either as that is again a continuos stream

[dejongj]

Originally Posted by LogicIT Paul

Later versions may come with firewire but as long as the drives you get are 7200RPM or above preformance should not be an issue. I've watched movies on it while the unit was rebuilding a drive and no lag or jumping.
Let us know what you think when you get one. Would also be intrested to know what apps you are running that you think may suffer from USB2 as the main question ask me is relating to speed.
Cheers.
P

As per my other response, a continuous stream is very different behaviour. With video editing for example you can be easily moving and copying 10Gb+ files around...Firewire just handles the i/o so much better and puts less strain on the operating system, it is not really a drive specification issue and rpm issue.

[Logic Paul]

Hi dejongj,

You could have a point there. I had posted before I spoted your reply. If I find out any more I'll let you know and will send the boys at Drobo a mail to see if they can provide any i/o testing data (along with what tests were being run. I'm sure as a storage product they must have benchmarks on preformance.


is it just me or does everyone have issues posting here that letters are always missed when typing? sorry for the side note...

[Tenex]

Originally Posted by dejongj

Thanks appreciate that...Unfortunately streaming movies is quite different that random access for video editing etc...I can't see any reason why HD streaming wouldn't work either as that is again a continuos stream

I bought a USB My Book a month or so ago and I have to say it streams movies without any issues to my iMac. Other than this model all the others are firewire My Books so this was a pleasant surprise.

[dejongj]

Originally Posted by Tenex

I bought a USB My Book a month or so ago and I have to say it streams movies without any issues to my iMac. Other than this model all the others are firewire My Books so this was a pleasant surprise.

streaming is quite different than what you do with video editing and copying and pasting a lot of files together.

Anyway I got a response already from drobo! That fact alone that you get a same day response is very encouraging. It was, check back real soon and watch this space as the FireWire 800 version is on its way!