# Continue with Drobo?



## Sharpie (Aug 23, 2016)

I have been a long time Drobo user and have been happy for the most part.  In the near future I will be expanding and have been considering OWC Thunderbay 4 RAID 5.  Does anyone have any opinions?


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## clee01l (Aug 23, 2016)

Why do you need RAID5?  Is there a proprietary RAID controller?  Does the RAID software use a proprietary Filesystem?   How is the RAID drive that you now have backed up?  What backup software do you use?  How do you recover your data when the RAID controller fails? 

I'm of the opinion that unless you have a business requirement that your data be available 24X7, you do not need RAID (0-5)  Proprietary RAID filesystems are the devil to recover and when held hostage by a Proprietary RAID controller, lock yo int the vendor's solution.  I replaced RAID units at home about 6 years ago.  They don't provide backup. They are slower than a single drive because of the redundancy in writing to multiple drives.


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## Sharpie (Aug 23, 2016)

clee01l said:


> Why do you need RAID5?  Is there a proprietary RAID controller?  Does the RAID software use a proprietary Filesystem?   How is the RAID drive that you now have backed up?  What backup software do you use?  How do you recover your data when the RAID controller fails?
> 
> I'm of the opinion that unless you have a business requirement that your data be available 24X7, you do not need RAID (0-5)  Proprietary RAID filesystems are the devil to recover and when held hostage by a Proprietary RAID controller, lock yo int the vendor's solution.  I replaced RAID units at home about 6 years ago.  They don't provide backup. They are slower than a single drive because of the redundancy in writing to multiple drives.


I can't disagree with anything you are saying...  RAID does not = backup.. I have been using Drobo for its drive failure protection technology (which is not perfect or fast).


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## mbrakes (Aug 23, 2016)

Sharpie said:


> I have been a long time Drobo user and have been happy for the most part.  In the near future I will be expanding and have been considering OWC Thunderbay 4 RAID 5.  Does anyone have any opinions?



I'm in the same situation, and I will probably choose the OWC Thunderbay for my next storage unit because the speed of the new Drobo USB 3 enclosures are a bit disappointing (I knew they wouldn't be the fastest around before purchase, but still, real-world performance was less than anticipated. I got them while there was a rebate running, so I can't complain for the price I paid). 

The Drobos are OK for storage, but underwhelming as work drives. 

The main thing you lose with the Thunderbay is the ability to mix drives - that's DROBOs biggest advantage, if you have a lot of legacy drives that still have life left in them. 

SoftRAID, that can be bunled with the OWC's, seems to have a good reputation, so with the Thunderbays it seems like you can have both speed and redundancy in RAID config.

Going forward I will probably continue to use my two Drobos for my image archive, and my next purchase will be the Thunderbay for current and recent work that is nice to keep on a fast work drive = the best of both worlds. 

If I were you I'd probably just get the OWC Thunderbay.


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## clee01l (Aug 23, 2016)

RAID does not protect you from drive failure, only insulates you from the effects of a failed drive.

I have a LaCie 6TB Thunderbolt2 EHD.  It cost me $400USD.  I could get two for $800USD and have a TimeMachine backup drive that would backup everything on the LaCie.   If I purchased the OWC Thunderbay with 24TB to get the same 6TB of storage, it would cost ~$1800USD and I still would be unable to back up the data on another drive without investing in an additional drive of at least 6TB capacity.
"Drobo for its drive failure protection technology" Is advertising jargon for multiple RAID drives that "protect" you WHEN one drive fails.  You agree this is not Backup, just drive redundancy.   *When* the RAID controller (hardware) fails.  You are unable to recover data from any of the drives until you replace the RAID Controller with another Drobo Enclosure.

For a home camera enthusiast,  RAID does not make sense financially or practically.  You haven't answered my first question, Why do you need RAID5?

The OWC  bare enclosure is $489USD  while an Akitio Thunder2 Quad is less than $350USD. I bought the Akitio to house 4 separate old 1TB drives (could have been configured as RAID5).  Any drive that is older than three years is IMO no longer suitable for storing critical user data.


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## tspear (Aug 23, 2016)

Historically drives failed more then controllers. No longer sure this is true (have not seen any recent data).
RAID5 is the lowest cost solution to mitigate against a drive failure without resorting to a backup. 

Considering the costs of many of the RAID controllers though, a dedicated backup solution may be cheaper.


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## Sharpie (Aug 24, 2016)

I am not saying I need RAID 5.  I have over 16TB of pictures and data that I want to protect and am looking at all options.  I have been using Drobo's successfully over the past 6 years and have had only one major issue that I was able to recover data from using data rescue software with the help of the Drobo people.  My 2 Drobo 5D units are getting up in age and I am looking at the best way to replace them.  I do have a dedicated backup solution that is in place.  I am just researching how people manage large storage needs.


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## Gnits (Aug 24, 2016)

I use a Synology drive for various network needs, incl back up.  Synology have a large range  of scaleable options.  I do not need performance on my Nas drives, so have no experience of any performance related requirements.


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## Jack Henry (Aug 25, 2016)

Be aware that the new OS for Mac 'Sierra' will have software RAID ability built in RAID0, RAID1 & JBOD support will be available. I believe it's being released in early September.

So you could just use 2 (or 3 for a spare) external USB drive and set them up as RAID1 for mirroring.


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## bob chadwick (Aug 25, 2016)

I just added a second 4tb drive to my 2 bay Synology DS212J.  I don't think I am going to go with a raid configuration.  If not, do you recommend setting up two 4TB volumes or a single 8tb volume.  How do you back these up?  I've been using an attached USB drive but this is rapidly going to be overwhelmed with 8TB.


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## Gnits (Aug 25, 2016)

I keep my drives attached to my pc as internal drives and use the Synology as a backup device.  Just for performance reasons.


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## bob chadwick (Aug 25, 2016)

I use the NAS primarily has a media server, hence the need to back it up.  I had inconsistent results using Time Machine with the NAS and have purchased a USB3 drive bay hooked to my Mac that I use for Time Machine.


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