Thanks Ben!  This is exactly the type of info I was looking for.


    Jim

-----Original Message-----
From: ADSM: Dist Stor Manager [mailto:ADSM-L AT VM.MARIST DOT EDU] On Behalf Of 
Ben
Bullock
Sent: Wednesday, November 04, 2009 11:09 AM
To: ADSM-L AT VM.MARIST DOT EDU
Subject: Re: [ADSM-L] DROBOPRO Storage Device


        I have a little exposure in that one of the managers bought one
because it was cheap and his friend told him it was great. He told us to put
it into the enterprise. We played with it for a couple weeks and then sent
it back.

        This may not be the gospel truth, but after multiple calls to
support, this is what we came up with:

        It is not really a NAS device. The DroboPro can only be attached to
one host at a time, even through the Ethernet. There is a NAS attachment
that you can buy to make a Drobo into NAS, but that product is NOT
compatible with the DroboPro, only the non-pro version.

                After multiple support calls, we determined that it is
really just locally attached storage (Firewire, USB, Ethernet) that has some
very cool functionality in the way that it does Raid and lets you mix and
match drive types and sizes.

        I really want one at home, and a small business might be OK, but in
my opinion it is not for medium to large businesses.

YMMV,
Ben


-----Original Message-----
From: ADSM: Dist Stor Manager [mailto:ADSM-L AT VM.MARIST DOT EDU] On Behalf Of 
Jim
Neal
Sent: Wednesday, November 04, 2009 11:53 AM
To: ADSM-L AT VM.MARIST DOT EDU
Subject: [ADSM-L] DROBOPRO Storage Device
Importance: High

Hi All,



    Does anyone have any experience with a NAS product by Data Robotics Inc
called DroboPro?  If so, can you tell me if it can be backed up and whether
it supports NDMP?  I know I could ask the vendor, but I tend to think that
most vendors will say their products can do anything so I am requesting an
independent assessment.  Thanks much!





Jim Neal

Sr. TSM Administrator

IS&T Storage and Backup Group

U.C. Berkeley