Drobo limits the amount of human interaction required and includes some of the most advanced automated features available, including self-monitoring, self-healing and an easy-to-understand visual status and alert panel.
Rob Gatto, Marketing Director of local agents Kayell Australia said that, "With the introduction of Drobo, Data Robotics frees consumers and small businesses from the time-consuming chore of storage management, enabling them to focus more of their time on personal or professional interests."
Consumer and small business storage has entered the terabyte era and non-technical users are facing the daunting challenge of managing storage capacities equivalent to those in large businesses. Today, people are struggling with managing and protecting data across multiple external hard drives, and managing enterprise storage technologies like RAID. Both solutions have their drawbacks for creative professionals and consumers, who want to focus on something other than their IT infra-structure.
Drobo is a storage robot that utilizes new automation technology from Data Robotics that provides a solution for those who need an effective and manageable alternative. Just plug it in, feed it with drives, and use it just like you would any external hard drive – except this one is self-protecting, infinitely expandable, and requires no complex configuration or management. Drobo is designed to anticipate much of what can go wrong with digital storage and automatically monitors and repairs problems that put data at risk.
"After inventing enterprise storage technologies and building entire data centers, I understand how to store and protect data better than most," said Dr. Geoff Barrall, CEO and Co-Founder of Data Robotics. "But that didn't save me from losing irreplaceable personal data from a system crash at home. When I investigated what solutions were available, the only options were managing a growing number of external hard drives or managing RAID. That's when I realized there needed to be a better solution, and I began the development of Drobo."
The robotic storage technology inside of Drobo is based on storage virtualization principles combined with the ideals of cybernetics. This unique combination provides a best-in-class user experience for mass-storage devices, especially in terms of initial set-up, autonomous data protection and future capacity expansion.
"For the first time, we have a storage solution in Drobo that lets people know when their hard drive capacity is running low, just like a printer would notify a user that it is running low on ink," continued Dr. Barrall. "When hard drive capacity is nearing its limit, Drobo alerts the user that they need to add or replace a hard drive with a larger new one. That's all you need to do. Just insert a new drive and you instantly get more capacity."
Drobo is a small, striking black desktop system that connects via any USB 2.0 port on your Mac or Windows PC. Under its magnetically-attached faceplate are four bays that can accept any brand, size, speed or capacity mix of standard 3.5" SATA internal hard drives (sold separately and available at most electronics stores). Drives just slide in without requiring any tools or carriers.
Drobo Set-up: Just add drives, then connect Drobo's high speed USB 2.0 cable to a Windows or Macintosh-based PC or server, and connect to AC power. No applications software is required. Start with any number of disks; Drobo acts as one large drive, making it easier to find what you've stored on it.
Drobo Management: When lights are green, your data is safe. When lights are yellow, your Drobo is 85% full, so just add or replace a drive. With red lights, replace or add a drive immediately. No software or configuration consoles are needed.
Drobo Protection: Drobo automatically configures itself for data protection. No choosing RAID levels or manually shuffling data between multiple external hard drives. When starting with more than one drive, if a drive fails, your data is safe and Drobo immediately moves unprotected data to any available protected space on remaining disks.
"Drobonomics": Pay as you grow. Start with only the capacity you need now and buy new drives as you need more storage, taking full advantage of disk drive pricing curves. Adding drives to Drobo is as simple as adding ink to a printer. No downtime, no configuration management.
"Alexander Graham Bell said that the reason that the telephone was going to be a success is because it didn't require any skill to operate," said Tony Asaro, senior analyst, Enterprise Strategy Group. "That is what Data Robotics has brought to data storage. Their Drobo has simplified storage to the point that it requires no skill - you don't need to be an expert. And Drobo provides greater reliability than higher end storage systems. We believe that Drobo has the potential to create an entirely new market and we believe its technology should become pervasive in the storage industry."
The Drobo storage robot is priced at $899 RRP Inc Gst and is distributed by Kayell Australia and is available for immediate purchase from Kayell Australia and it’s Australia wide reseller network.
Kayell Australia Pty Ltd
www.kayellaustralia.com.au
