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wtf, external encloser for $330? diskless too? for that price you could buy an NAS already!

#1, this is not just an 'encloser'. Do a little homework before you come in spouting nonsense. Granted, I think the price is still too high.

Get a NAS and be happier:
http://store.bluecherry.net/QNAP_TS_209_Pro_II_All_in_one_NAS_server_suppo_p/ts-209proii.htm

LiveSquid, you ignorant moron. An "encloser" is EXACTLY what it is. Oh, wait,.. you can use different size HDs in it. BFD! It's just another overpriced HD box without HDs, so shut the burp up you condescending little ****.

Oh, burn! You really got me! It might bother me to be called names if I actually gave a burp. Or if half of your posts werent similar insults on various subjects. You can feel free to lay into me again. It appears to be how you manage feel better about yourself.

I bought this Drobo for $500 and I'm glad I did.
It started out with two 500gb drives in it, and now it's got three 1.5 TB drives with a single 500gb drive left. As i've upgraded the drives it didn't need to reboot, it didn't need to rebuild an array, my data didn't even go offline in the entire progression from 500gb up to ~3 TB.

Of course, to use a volume bigger than 2TB, you need Windows Vista (or better?) and a FireWire 400 or 800 connection. Since Windows has never included FireWire 800 drivers, good luck on that one...I have to stick with 400 (50MB/s) speeds.

I can usually read and write to this array in the 15-30 MB/s range, so it's no speed demon, but not a slouch either.

If you want to get your own enclosure, set up your own software RAID, and shuffle data around yourself, you can save a lot of money. But if that sounds boring and tedious to you, I'd say the Drobo is worth the money.

I would wait. If they are selling these off there is prob a new one with built in Ethernet coming down the pipe.

If you only want a backup solution, it is great to not have to build a new raid every time you want to upgrade your capasity.

Just wondering if the Acer Aspire AH340-UA230N Home Server a better value then this? It is on sale at Amazon for $350 with 1TB hard drive included. Really thinking about getting on of those...

windows home server does the same thing... I got 8 drives plugged in and counting... plus no proprietary file system either so you can take any drive and read the files off it.

drobo can't do that.

Good point, #9.

Not a good point at all, if you're not going to use the proprietary drive redundancy in WHS you have wasted $100 on it opposed to just using the WinXP license that came with any remotely modern system, presuming your needs were just the data storage as they'd be when contrasting it vs this.

Granted that'll limit the number of concurrent accesses but if you have high concurrent access you don't want a slow device like the Drobo either.

Believe it or not the time tested ways of doing things are most popular because they work the best. Normal fileserver, normal raid arrays (I shouldn't need to write it but that doesn't include RAID0), all standard parts that can be individually serviced and replaced.

What if your drobo has a PSU or circuit board failure, can you be up and running again the same day? You can with standard parts which can be bought anywhere inexpensively. What about years later when drobo has moved on to newer models and you can barely find any and those at very high prices?

Do what you will, but the data easily becomes more important than how small it is or the latest feature that introduces another layer of complexity and likelihood of problems later, plus in the end it's a bargain website and a $50 case & PSU plus a $35 board in it should not cost $330.

I see some of your points dave_c, but I still think $330 is a pretty good bargain for the Drobo.

I've bought some hard drive enclosures (RAID1) in the past (from Cavalry) and when a single disk failed, the entire array went down until I replaced the broken one. Then I found out that the enclosure had broken and both hard drives were fine. Then I found out that by opening the box, I voided the warranty and couldn't get a replacement. That makes me wary of inexpensive RAID boxes.

The other alternative would be putting them in your computer.
So now your PC has at least 4 fast and hot spinning hard drives inside, and when one goes down, you gotta turn off the entire computer and swap it out. Then sit in the BIOS (or however your RAID card rebuilds) for hours as the data is copied to the replacement drive. Can you be up and running the same day with that kinda solution? I think not, and I also think it'll be a lot of work.

A hard drive light turns red on the drobo, you swap out the drive and it copies data. No screwdrivers, no cable messes, you don't need to reboot, the data doesn't even go down. You can take the 4 disks out of the drobo, put them in another drobo (even a different model) and they mount just fine. They've got an express repair option where if your unit breaks, just give them a credit card reservation and they express ship a new Drobo to you with a pre-paid shipping label (and box) to send the busted one back.

Make your own call, but I was willing to spring for that kind of convenince.