With all the new digital media out and about, pctures, music, video etc. I think a lot of home PC users would greatly benefit fronm this device. The non-techo users do not need NAs if they only have one PC. Anything that makes backing up of data for these users is a bonus.
Of course for the more tech savvy it could aways be attached to a Windows Home Server to provide a NASish style of storage.

Personally I still won't be looking at one of these. Still no ethernet still no sale!

Perhaps for big networks, there are better solutions.... (what are you using? what will you be using?)

But for, say, a digital photographer or video editor, this is a great solution...
At least it has been in my experience.
Do you have other suggestions for the growing number of us who (at home or at our personal offices) have huge and growing amounts of data to access, manipulate, backup and protect?

And don't forget the look -- black box with X-files blinking lights. (heh)

For now I just have a dedicated PC as a media/file server. The problem with this solution is that it requires a PC so I don't see a huge advantage. Personally I'd rather use a well configured NAS device but I can certainly how this device has its market.

This is a great discussion! Couple thoughts...

Re: Network port...

Yes, I tend to think that many people will find this a must-have feature. Definitely for me, that's hard to live without. I kicked off a "do you need it?" thread on DroboSpace (the user community for the Drobo) just today to discuss. Thought I'd link here in case anyone wants to weigh in.

Re: Media PC...

I too have a (Windows XP MCE) media center PC, and I love it. But it doesn't solve the storage problem. I have a ReadyNAS for that, but it definitely lacks some of the easy-expandability factors that Drobo does.

The other thing I love about Drobo is that you don't have to have the same sized drives. Just stick in a new drive, and all but the largest drive are used for storage capacity. After all the headaches I experienced with rebuilding my NAS from RAID-1 to RAID-5, I'm all for that.

And the Drobo price drop actually puts it within reach.

OK - a friend needs something just like this Drobo - can someone tell me how to get one in Australia?

Thanks,
Shane.

To the best of my knowledge, the formal launch of the Drobo is this summer. I imagine you'll be able to get one then. But I'd ask your question on Drobo's official community; I'm sure someone there will have more information for you. Who knows, you may be able to con someone in to picking one up from the Drobo online store (only ships in the US, I think) and sending you one.

And of course, there's always eBay.

Get a Thecus...http://www.thecus.com/products_index.php.

PM if you want pricing. RRP depending on unit type start around $350

warren13

To everyone dissing Drobo, can you please explain to me why you think it's expensive?

Closest I can see to it is Thecus IP 4100+ at $693

http://www.auspcmarket.com.au/index....info.php?input[product_code]=AL-N4100B-PLUS&input[category_id]=

And I can pick up the drobo for $669 over at Nexus Technology

http://www.nexus.com.au/catalog/prod...15f16ad10378cf

I don't need a NAS but if I did, i could very easily repo any of my old machines, install freenas and plug the drobo in at minimal cost.

To me, the reason why Drobo is cheap is long term, in the future, I can buy larger drives and not be limited to the lowest common drive size (as in RAID 5).

I'm not seeing a good reason not to buy the Drobo especially considering i dont need a NAS.