DROBO (V2!)
Simple, Safe, Fast Digital Asset Storage
The new version has numerous improvements, including Firewire 800 and considerable speed increases. Same price as before! We are taking orders now and expect stock to arrive in two weeks.
Place your order now!
Image makers the world over in the modern era face a growing challenge - how to safely store the gigabytes and gigabytes of data generated by digital processes. From digital RAW files/film scans, through to processed images with all your layers in tact, to JPGs prepped for your web site, right through to your layouts for your marketing material, even the components of a single image can occupy gigabytes of data.
Safe storage is of course the most important issue - and any sensible backup strategy will also include the use of archival media like the discs made by Taiyo Yuden - but for day to day access when working on a job, speed is also a primary concern - you need your assets to hand so that you can make the best use of them. And only hard drives offer sufficient speed to deal with hundreds of gigabytes of data.
Simple external hard drives are one option - they're certainly cheap. But unless you're burning your work off every day, placing all your trust in a single drive is foolish - hard drives are easily the least reliable component of computers and can fail with little or no warning resulting in complete data loss.
The alternative is a system that uses multiple hard drives to reduce the risk of any drive failing - essentially, multiple copies of your files are stored so that if any one drive fails, it can be replaced and the system can recover without any data loss. And of course your total storage capacity can be MUCH higher than with a single drive - multiple terabytes is now really quite affordable.
Until recently, multi hard drive systems (known as RAID systems) were clunky to use and expensive. Enter the Drobo.
The Drobo Storage Robot
The Drobo is a system that brings all the benefits of multi hard drive based systems (large capacity, speed and excellent data safety) to the user with none of the previous complexity, and at a very reasonable price point.
Essentially, you just load the machine with hard drives (we recommend the Western Digital GreenPower environmentally friendly range, available from most computer stores), and the Drobo handles all the complexity of the system. You can even mix and match hard drive sizes and brands if you have some old hard drives lying about, and you can expand the system as and when you need it.
The result is masses of storage, with fast access, excellent data safety, and next to no configuration work - just plug in, let the unit do its thing, and go.
Key Features:
- Drobo guards everything on it.
Drobo combines up to four hard drives into a big pool of protected storage. Start with two, grow to four, then upsize smaller drives-get Terabytes of protection.
- Drobo manages storage, so you don't have to.
Just connect Drobo to your Mac or PC. No RAID levels. No management or configuration. Drobo does everything for you. Get rid of multiple external drives. Avoid the complexity of RAID. Attach a Drobo storage robot to your system and let it manage your storage so you don't have to.
- Drobo upgrades capacity on-the-fly.
Add drives to Drobo at any time. Mix 'n match capacities, brands or speeds. No downtime, data migration, or waiting to access new capacity. Drobo works the way you do.
- Drobo lets you "pay as you grow"
Hard drives get bigger and cheaper all the time. Don't buy storage capacity until you need it. Buy capacity "just-in-time" possibly saving you hundreds of dollars.
- DroboShare it directly on your network (requires accessory, see below)
Connect your Drobo to a DroboShare and share your data over Gigabit Ethernet (GigE). With DroboShare (see below), everybody on your network can benefit from the storage capabilities of Drobo.
The Drobo Website has comprehensive information, or you can download the DROBO Datasheet
To order, you can buy online using the link below or please contact us if you'd prefer to deal directly with a real person!
Buy the Drobo Storage Robot V2 for only $775
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DroboShare - Turn you Drobo into a NAS!
The Drobo on its own connects directly to a PC using a USB2 connection. But what if you want to share your data easily across your whole home/office network?
The DroboShare turns your Drobo instantly into a Network Attached Storage Unit, over standard Ethernet or for real speed, over Gigabit Ethernet.
Key Features:
- DroboShare Shares Your Drobo on a Gigabit Ethernet Network
DroboShare connects your Drobo to Gigabit Ethernet networks for sharing data. Just plug Drobo into DroboShare and you are ready to go.
- DroboShare Automates Network Setup & Management
Avoid complex network configuration. Just hook up DroboShare and start sharing data across a LAN. Drobo Dashboard software automates connecting your computer(s) to the DroboShare and keeping them connected. Never again suffer a "dropped" network connection severing access to your data.
- NAS When You Want It, DAS When You Need It
You can unplug the Drobo and connect it directly to a computer when required then reconnect Drobo to the DroboShare for sharing files with other users.
- Supports Your Native File Systems
With DroboShare you can choose NTFS (Windows), HFS+ (Mac OS X), EXT3 (Linux) or FAT32 (Various)
- Supports the Client of Your Choice
DroboShare supports standard network protocols allowing access to its data from almost any client.
The Drobo Website has comprehensive information, or you can download the Drobo Share Datasheet
To order, you can buy online using the link below or please contact us if you'd prefer to deal directly with a real person!
Buy the Drobo Share for only $325
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