Data Robotics have today announced a new addition to its line up of Drobo storage appliances called the Drobo FS (File Share).  The five drive bay Drobo FS is very similar in appearance to the Drobo S, which was released last November, with the exception that it doesn’t have any of the usual USB, Firewire or eSATA connectivity.  Connections to the Drobo FS are provided via a single 1Gb Ethernet post over which the AFP (Apple) and CIFS/SMB protocols can be used.  No NFS, you may be thinking?  Well, the good news is that if can be added.  Which leads me on to what I personally consider to be the real selling point of the Drobo FS – DroboApps!

What are DroboApps?

DroboApps have been around for a while now and could be downloaded and used with the DroboShare product which the Drobo FS has now superseded, integrated and improved the performance on.  The good news is that the DroboApps can also be installed onto the Drobo FS providing it with extra features or functionality that it may not have by default.  The DroboApps are developed by third party companies and individuals in a community type fashion which is being nurtured by Data Robotics.  There a handful of companies already who have produced applications such as FTP, SSD, Jumbo packets, iTunes media server and NFS to name a few.  There will also be a software development kit released into the community shortly.

So all of you virtualization heads out there are probably now having the same thought as I had when I first heard about this; Storage + 1Gb network connection + NFS + VMware ESX/ESXi = another option for a potential home or work lab storage solution! 

The DroboApps are free to download and use and can can be found at the DroboApps page here.

Drobo FS Uses

With the varied range of applications that you can install on the Drobo FS you could end up using it practically for anything (within reason), though according to DataRobotics the main uses for the Drobo FS are likely to be:

Shared File Storage – Centralize all digital files (videos, music, photos, documents) in a single, safe location.

Network Backup – Use free DroboCopy utility or preferred backup software to create automated backups for every machine on the network.

Private Cloud – Use free DroboApps to turn Drobo FS into a secure, private cloud accessible from anywhere with an Internet connection

The private cloud angle is an interesting one and is a feature that Data Robotics has partnered with 3rd party company, ‘Oxygen Cloud’ to provide.  According to Oxygen Cloud’s site at the time of writing this feature should be available starting in May.

Other Drobo FS Features

There are some other really features with the Drobo FS worthy of mention, including:

Plug In and Share – The Drobo FS connects directly to any Gigabit Ethernet network for a true plug in and share set-up experience. Supports standard data transfer protocols including Apple File Protocol (AFP) and Microsoft Common Internet File System (CIFS).

5-Drive Capacity and Instant Expansion to 10TB and Beyond – Customers with growing storage requirements can easily add data capacity by simply inserting a new hard drive or replacing the smallest drive with a larger one, even when all five drive bays are full. With Drobo FS, expansion is automatic, instantaneous, and access to data is always maintained.

Single- and Dual-Drive Redundancy – The Drobo FS dual drive redundancy option protects against the simultaneous failure of up to two hard drives. Customers can engage this option with a single click without ever losing access to their data.

Self-Healing Technology – With BeyondRAID, the Drobo FS continually examines data blocks and sectors on each drive to flag potential issues. The preemptive “scrubbing” helps ensure data is being written only to healthy drive areas and automatically keeps data in the safest state possible – even when a drive fails.

Customizable Storage – Utilizing the growing library of DroboApps, including media and web applications, users can customize the Drobo FS to further enhance their sharing experience.

So where does the ‘Drobo FS’ fit into the Drobo range?

The Drobo FS fits bang-smack in the middle of the current Drobo range, as it offers the flexibility of having Ethernet connectivity for centralised data storage though is small enough to be adopted by the SMB or home user market.

How Much?

So how much is a new Drobo FS’?  Well, it depends on whether you want to add your own disks or not.  There is a base model which comes without disk, allowing you to slowly build the storage capacity of your Drobo over time or by utilising spare SATA disks you may have lying around home or the office. Or you can buy the Drobo pre-populated with disks up to a massive 10TB of total storage.  That’d even take me a while to fill !

First Thoughts

The Drobo FS is an interesting storage device from the aspect that you can install functionality (if available) when required and through which you can get hooks into some promising sounding remote file sharing, backup and cloud based features.  This level of flexibility is an attractive one especially when you can add your own standard SATA disks into the device for easy expansion.  Many, including myself,  will no doubt draw a comparison between the Drobo FS and the iomega ix4-200d storage device.  Though where there are some similarities there are just as many differences, all with their own associated pros and cons. For example; the iomega has dual 1Gb ports and supports NFS and iSCSI though you can’t use your own SATA disks to replace any failed drives and the write times are slower (according to Drobo) than that of the Drobo FS. 

The success of the Drobo FS will be determined by two basic factors in my opinion:

• DroboApps: If Drobo can really get behind and support the DroboApp community this will likely nurture application innovation by 3rd parties and individuals which will bring extra value to the product and in turn will drive Drobo FS sales and overall awareness of the Drobo product range.
• Price:  This old chestnut of course governs the success of many products, though as you can purchase an iomega ix4-200d for US$650 approx with 4TB (4 x 1TB) of storage with both iSCSI and NFS connectivity by default people will need to feel that there is sufficient value in the Drobo’s FS features to pay that little extra.

These are just my first thoughts on the new Drobo FS and I am looking forward to finding out more about the product and maybe getting some hands-on time when meeting with Data Robotics at the upcoming Gestalt IT Tech Field Day.