But, pushing it over Thunderbolt certainly helps.įor a bigger test, I moved my full Aperture library. Then, I went from my internal SSD to the Drobo, and that took 15 seconds. First I copied it from my internal HDD to my internal SSD on my iMac. First, I grabbed the biggest single file on my Mac which is a video of the 1990 UNLV Basketball championship game. And, with four 1TB drives, you have 2.7TB of space to use.Īs far as performance, I just did a few things to get a feel for it. Some good options in the app including how many light alerts you’re interested in, an email alert of issues, and whether you want the menubar icon.Īnd just a couple things on available space. Package installation that requires a reboot. But here are the things that caught my eye:
Not to many because anyone can download and install it. Once the mini is formatted, started up, etc, it’s just a simple green light around the edge so it’s not distracting.Ī look at the Drobo mini from Brian Stucki on Vimeo.Īlright, just a few screenshots from the Drobo Dashboard. Learn from others mistakes.ģ) The light up process is cool, I put it in 4x speed so we could watch the lights as they do their thing. I did try to stabalize after though.Ģ) The power cord slides in, and then twists to lock. A few quick notes:ġ) Sorry, it’s a handheld iPhone video. How about a quick video of installing the drives and also starting up the Drobo mini for the first time. (27in iMac and Cinema Display for size comparison.) They are actually quite similar in size, which I wasn’t expecting.Īnd finally, how it looks on a desk. Speaking of the Mac mini, here are some comparison charts. I imagine this will be a common install as people order a Mac mini server, put a couple SSD drives into the Mac mini itself, they can use the two removed 1TB drives into the Drobo mini and still have that space for storage and use. I decided to put in 1TB 5400RPM drives into the Drobo mini.
(It’s held on by strong magnets) and you’ll see the code for failing drives. Of course, there is a port on back for each of those cables. Inside the box you have the Drobo mini, a Thunderbolt cable, a USB3 cable, and the power cable and adapter. Then put in your hard drives, power up the drobo, and format the drives. Basically, go to /start to download the Drobo Dashboard.
In the image above, you’ll see Quick Start card. Then the retail box has a Macbook feel to it. When the machine arrives, it’s a nice unpack experience. I suppose Amazon Prime has just spoiled us all. Also, shipping costs $20 at a minimum, or $100+ if you need it overnight. I know it’s to combat fraud, but I don’t love it. When you make an order, you get a phone call later in the day confirming that you made the order. Good enough for me.īut, I’ve never been impressed with the ordering process straight from Drobo’s online store. The good news is that they offered a discount and free shipping on a new order. The bad news is that it was marked as shipped and never left the facility.
After a week with no update on it, I sent a note to the company. But then I watched and waited, and waited, and waited. After waiting just a few days, I got the shipment notification. Since it is a new product, I wasn’t surprised to find out it was backordered. So with that said, let’s get to some photos and observations: I know that when I’m considering a product, I’m interested in the general feel and interaction of it. First, know that this won’t be a super intensive speed test. And since we have special attachment to “mini” products, we ordered one in to give it a look. A few months ago Drobo introduced their new Drobo mini.