Drobo Archives page 2 of 4 – Stephen Foskett, Pack Rat

Review: DroboPro FS is Data Robotics SMB NAS

October 5, 2010 By Stephen Leave a Comment

Data Robotics today launched their sixth product, the business-oriented DroboPro FS file server. Combining the 8-drive chassis from the direct-attached DroboPro with the Linux-based file server engine fro the Drobo FS, the DroboPro FS (or “Pro FS” for short) gives small businesses and remote offices a simple networked location for their shared files. Although it is a bit more expensive than some of the competition, the Pro FS promises to be as easy to set up, use, and grow as previous devices from Data Robotics.

Filed Under: Apple, Everything, Personal, Terabyte home, Virtual Storage Tagged With: data robotics, Drobo, Drobo FS, drobopro, DroboPro FS, NAS, review

How To Add An eSATA Port To An Intel iMac

September 23, 2010 By Stephen 4 Comments

My late-2009 27″ Intel iMac now has an eSATA port. I’m documenting how I did it here mainly for posterity. Although it works fine, I cannot recommend that others attempt to perform the same surgery on their own crazy-expensive Apple computers. eSATA mods like this won’t be satisfying to most users, and the operation is risky and destructive enough that non-crazy people shouldn’t attempt it!

Filed Under: Apple, Terabyte home Tagged With: cable, CPUstuff, Dremel, Drobo, eSATA, hardware hacking, iFixit, iMac, Mac OS X, OWC, SATA, SATA 2.0

iTunes 10 Breaks Non-Apple Streaming (Again)

September 9, 2010 By Stephen 7 Comments

Do you use an “iTunes compatible” device like an Iomega ix4 or Drobo FS or Roku SoundBridge? Have you noticed that it no longer works since you updated to iTunes 10? That’s because Apple made a simple change to their Digital Audio Access Protocol (DAAP) that causes third-party devices to fail to connect correctly. Although software patches are already appearing, there is no guarantee that older devices like that Roku will ever be updated.

Filed Under: Apple, Computer History, Everything, Personal, Terabyte home Tagged With: AFP, AirPlay, Apple, Apple TV, DAAP, Drobo, Drobo FS, EMC, Firefly, HP, Iomega, iPod, iTunes, iTunes 10, ix4, mt-daapd, Roku, SoundBridge

Which Hard Disk Drives Should You Use In A Drobo?

September 8, 2010 By Stephen 2 Comments

What hard disk drive should you use in a Drobo? Stick to 1.5 or 2 TB models from Seagate and Western Digital, and watch for great deals!

Filed Under: Ask a Pack Rat, Terabyte home Tagged With: Amazon, Barracuda LP, Caviar Green, Drobo, Drobo FS, EARS, EcoGreen F2, Fry's, green storage, NewEgg, Samsung, Seagate, Western Digital

Introducing the Small Business Storage Array Buyer’s Guide

August 24, 2010 By Stephen Leave a Comment

Any reader of my blog knows that I’m a sucker for small storage systems. I currently use would a four bay Data Robotics Drobo, but there are many other fine choices for those with different needs. I was talking to my friend Jerome Wendt about this, and we are collaborating on a buyer’s guide for small business storage systems.

Filed Under: Enterprise storage, Terabyte home, Virtual Storage Tagged With: buyer's guide, Drobo, Jerome Wendt, small business, Small Business Storage Array Buyer's Guide, storage array

Feed Your Drobo: 1 TB WD Green SATA Drive, $55.49

August 2, 2010 By Stephen Leave a Comment

It seems like my Drobo is always hungry. I’ve got all four slots stuffed with 1.5 TB drives right now, and the Western Digital Caviar Green is one of my favorites. It’s quiet and draws just a little power, yet is fairly quick thanks to 64 MB of cache. Now Amazon has it for $55.49, shipped!

Filed Under: Deals, Everything Tagged With: Advanced Format, Caviar Blue, Caviar Green, Drobo, Western Digital

Microsoft Stops Paying People To Use Bing Shopping

June 4, 2010 By Stephen Leave a Comment

Can Bing Search compete without money on the hood?

Rebates sell cars and electronics, so why not web search? That must have been Microsoft’s thought process when they implemented Live Search Cashback back in 2008. Under the program, Microsoft paid rebates to shoppers who purchased goods after using their shopping and price comparison search engine. Essentially, Microsoft was trying to buy their way into the hearts of web users. But Bing Cashback will end on July 30, 2010. Will web surfers still consider Bing?

Filed Under: Apple, Personal, Terabyte home Tagged With: AppleCare, Bing, Cashback, Drobo, e-commerce, eBay, Live Search, Microsoft, PayPal, shopping

Should Home Users Buy Enterprise Hard Disk Drives?

May 4, 2010 By Stephen 1 Comment

Are “enterprise” drives worth the extra cost in a RAID enclosure? The reason I ask is I’ve had 2 of 4 Seagate ‘consumer’ (7200.12) drives fail in my (Other World Qx2) enclosure. The two drives that failed were maybe a year old, well short of any ‘MBTF’ expectation. Enterprise drives cost nearly twice that of consumer drives.

Filed Under: Apple, Ask a Pack Rat, Personal, Terabyte home Tagged With: Drobo, hard disk drive, hard drive, Hitachi, Iomega ix4, Maxtor, OWC, RAID, Samsung, Seagate, Toshiba, Western Digital

Iomega Graduates and Goes to Work with the ix12-300r

May 4, 2010 By Stephen Leave a Comment

It all makes sense now: EMC's storage spectrum, from home to enterprise

EMC’s Iomega unit today released the rack-mount storage product we have all been waiting for. The new ix12-300r packs 12 drive bays, scaling from 4 TB all the way to 24 TB, and backs it with quad gigabit iSCSI, redundant power, and everything else the small data center needs.

Filed Under: Apple, Enterprise storage, Everything, Gestalt IT, Virtual Storage Tagged With: AFP, AX4, CLARiiON, D-Link, data robotics, Dell, Drobo, E-Lab, EMC, HP, Hyper-V, Iomega, iSCSI, ix12, ix12-300r, ix4, ix4-200d, ix4-200r, NAS, NetGear, NFS, Overland Storage, Promise, SMB, VMware

Use Process Solutions For Process Problems, Technical Solutions For Technical Ones

April 27, 2010 By Stephen 1 Comment

If there is a universal best practice, it’s the simple idiom, “use the right tool for every job”. We in IT spend so much time trying to fit square pegs into round holes, it becomes second nature. But the time has come to adopt a new best practice: Use process solutions to solve process problems, and technical solutions to solve technical ones.