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Tag: iscsi

  • DroboElite Brings BeyondRAID Technology to SMBs

    Data Robotics announced DroboElite, the first iSCSI SAN storage that manages itself.

    DroboElite is a business class data storage solution that brings the company’s BeyondRAID technology to small and medium businesses.

    According to Data Robotics, DroboElite, the fastest Drobo to date, features a new hardware architecture that includes an enhanced processing engine and dual high-speed iSCSI interfaces for 150 percent of the performance of previous Drobo models.

    “True multi-host support with LUN affinity allows small and medium businesses with limited IT resources to simplify management and reduce costs by consolidating storage across multiple servers,” the company says.

    DroboElite delivers automated capacity expansion and one-click single- or dual-drive redundancy for data protection for Windows, Mac and Linux machines.

    The new system extends the number of Smart Volumes – Data Robotics’ unique thin provisioning that pulls storage from a common pool of drives – so that users can now create up to 255 virtual storage volumes.

    “Smart Volumes allow companies to create new volumes in seconds and manage them over time by pulling storage from a common pool rather than a specific physical drive allocation. Smart Volumes are also file system aware which allows deleted data blocks to be immediately returned to the pool for future use,” the firm says.

    The new Drobo features multi-host support that enables the companies with multiple servers to add or consolidate storage by connecting the DroboElite into their existing TCP/IP network and utilizing the industry-standard iSCSI protocol.

    The Elite also comes with VMware-ready features: with dual iSCSI ports and the ability to create up to 255 Smart Volumes, it can support VMware environments and advanced functionality including VMotion, Storage VMotion, snapshots, and high availability.

    DroboElite features multiple stream optimization, dual Gigabit Ethernet interfaces for high-speed iSCSI and 8-drive capacity with instant capacity expansion to 16TB and beyond.

    With simplified dual-drive redundancy companies are protected against the simultaneous failure of up to two hard drives without losing access to their data.

    “Our products are exceedingly simple and straightforward to use while providing all of the features that SMBs need to keep their data safe and accessible,” said Dr. Geoff Barrall, CEO and founder of Data Robotics.

    He claims Data Robotics can deliver cost savings up to 90 percent compared to other iSCSI solutions by combining cost-effective hardware with robust iSCSI features.

    DroboElite is currently available starting at a price of $3,499 MSRP, with multiple configurations to $5,899 for a 16TB (8x 2TB) solution.

    The company also introduced Drobo S, a professional-class storage solution.

    “With the introduction of eSATA and a fifth drive bay, as well as enhancements to FireWire 800 throughput, the Drobo S offers 150 percent of the performance of the current four-bay Drobo, making it an ideal storage solution for creative professionals, small offices, and home office users,” according to press release.

  • Drobo Goes PRO, Let Your Data Grow


    DroboPro is the latest storage array that has been released by Data Robotics. The earlier versions of the device were known as Drobo External Storage Device. This version of the storage array is designed to manage itself. It is bigger, stronger and more capacious. It has 8 bays and is targeted for use by small businesses and creative professionals.

    Drobo Pro is similar to the earlier versions in looks. It supports up to 16 TB of storage and features the proprietory BeyondAID technology which was the mainstay of its predecessors. The technology permits a number of hard drives of varying capacities to be aggregated into one volume for redundancy and data protection. It cannot be used with networks. However, the subtle changes that distinguish this product are that it has integrated power supply and fully supports dual drive redundancy. Users can also switch between single and dual drive redundancy from a user friendly dashboard. The time that will be taken to shuffle the data around is displayed while we wait for the process to complete. This device is compatible with a 3U rack mount attachment that will have to be purchased separately. Hotswap is possible up to one drive at a time in single redundancy mode and two drives in a dual redundancy mode.

    The array has a USB 2.0 port, twin Fire Wire 800 sockets and gigabit Ethernet jack. The FireWire supports both 800 to 400 adapters. The Ethernet jack cannot be used to set it up for NAS. It is there to take advantage of iSCSI that is a fast interface that is used with severs and workstation rigs. OS X users get a homegrown iSCSI driver free.

    Data Robotics has clearly indicated that it prefers that the DroboPro should be used for direct attached storage with an option to connect it to a Windows Home Server or a networked computer if network access is essential. It is also possible to do professional video work on Drobo Pro.

    Tom Loverro, Director of Product Marketing at Data Robotics says: "One of the beta testers, who is well known in the video editing and animation community, is editing on DroboPro using Final Cut Pro with three video streams of 720p using Apple’s ProRes with no problems. That’s not to say you can do 5 streams of uncompressed 4K on DroboPro though — that sort of situation obviously calls for a different type of solution. But I do think we address 75% of the video editing market with this product according to our research."

    The price of the completely empty Drobo Pro is $1299. Pre stocked options cost $1599-$1949 and the top of trees version costs $3999 with 16 TB capacities. Existing Drobo Pro customers will receive a discount of $200 on the MSRP as an appreciation of their loyalty. The product has been shipped on April 7th.