Drobo or Raid?

H
Posted By
hanknj1
Apr 12, 2009
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407
Replies
2
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Closed
I have a Drobo storing my images on my PC and am setting up a Mac Pro to eventually replace that PC. I have a second Drobo ready to go for the Mac but am wondering if the Drobo is actually the best option. Granted it offers more security than a single drive but just how much? If more than one drive in the Drobo goes bad then I’ve lost my data. But if I put two drives into a OWC external case and do a mirror raid setup, wouldn’t this be a more secure way to go? I could do two of these, rather than one Drobo with four drives. The OWC cases are also ESATA while the Drobo is USB2 only (I have an older model).

I figured I’d come here to see if someone with common sense and experience can offer helpful guidance.
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JJ
John J
Apr 12, 2009
hanknj1 wrote:
I have a Drobo storing my images on my PC and am setting up a Mac Pro to eventually replace that PC. I have a second Drobo ready to go for the Mac but am wondering if the Drobo is actually the best option. Granted it offers more security than a single drive but just how much? If more than one drive in the Drobo goes bad then I’ve lost my data.

If you have all the bays occupied, then you can lose two and your data is safe. Just be certain that the device has completed redistribution of the data before you replace the bad drive(s). Obey the lights.

Now, nobody like to read this – you must get an interruptible power supply (UPS) because the synchronization/write of your data must run without failure. If you lose power during a resynch, you might lose one heck of a lot of data.

Stuff happens. Redundancy is the safest solution. My worst experience was with a network RAID unit when its motherboard went up in smoke (fan died) and it had no feature to shut itself down under the circumstance.
H
hanknj1
Apr 12, 2009
The Drobo has its own battery backup. I have another UPS for all my drives.

It does comfort me to know that with all bays filled I could lose two drives and still recover the data. Drobo doesn’t indicate this.

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