Stangman98
Senior Member
Is anyone using one? Just looking for some real world reviews.
Drobo's
- Thread starter Stangman98
- Start date
I have fear of packaged solutions,,,
you might want to read this link:
I’m Done with drobo | Scott Kelby's Photoshop Insider
you might want to read this link:
I’m Done with drobo | Scott Kelby's Photoshop Insider
The problem with off the shelf NAS systems is that they are proprietary hardware solutions, and should they fail (and they DO), then effectively unless you have the exact same model with the exact same hardware to hand, your data is not accessible until you get a replacement.
Netgear products I've used have the same issue as DLink, Drobo, and just about any other NAS maker out there.
I left the NAS world last year and opted for a Windows solution instead using a HP Micro Server (N40L), which allows me to use (off the shelf) 1 drive for OS, and another four for storage, although if you're willing to, you can get six drives in there and a USB boot drive with a little jiggery pokery.
Netgear products I've used have the same issue as DLink, Drobo, and just about any other NAS maker out there.
I left the NAS world last year and opted for a Windows solution instead using a HP Micro Server (N40L), which allows me to use (off the shelf) 1 drive for OS, and another four for storage, although if you're willing to, you can get six drives in there and a USB boot drive with a little jiggery pokery.
AC016
Senior Member
Seeing that there is no magic bullet when it comes to archiving our photos with todays technology (no solution is 100%), perhaps the best solution is going back to photo albums. I have decades old prints - my parents have much older ones - that look just as good as they did when first printed. As technology changes, we just spend more money. Have any of you wondered if there will still be USB connections in 20-30 years?? When my daughter is 26 years old - in 20 years - will i be able to show her baby pictures to her that reside on my USB external drive?? With all the money that we are spending on technology (a Drobo is around $1000 or more?), we can print out hundreds of prints and buy stacks of albums! A printed photo on good photo paper with good ink, will last longer than us. Sometimes, doing things the old fashioned way, is the best way. Just thinking out loud.
I still have access to working 5.25" drive and some media which still works on it!!
I have no idea why I need it but it's nice to know that more then a decade (maybe even two) later, it still works
One of the companies I worked for had to install a virtual server in their data centre just so they could read archived data from tape technology the company had deemed end of technical life. A good thing too, as it was used in anger (so to speak) in a court case after a public inquiry into a fatal train crash.
USB may not be a standard in years to come, but I would suspect that as we trundle through this technological age, we will no doubt bring our past digital memories into the newer world.
As another example, I copied all my old pictures from a 640MB drive to a 500GB drive, and that was all later transferred (along with all the other photos on the new drive) to a 2TB drive, and I know that in a few months that will be going onto a 4TB drive....
I have no idea why I need it but it's nice to know that more then a decade (maybe even two) later, it still works
One of the companies I worked for had to install a virtual server in their data centre just so they could read archived data from tape technology the company had deemed end of technical life. A good thing too, as it was used in anger (so to speak) in a court case after a public inquiry into a fatal train crash.
USB may not be a standard in years to come, but I would suspect that as we trundle through this technological age, we will no doubt bring our past digital memories into the newer world.
As another example, I copied all my old pictures from a 640MB drive to a 500GB drive, and that was all later transferred (along with all the other photos on the new drive) to a 2TB drive, and I know that in a few months that will be going onto a 4TB drive....
AC016
Senior Member
I still have access to working 5.25" drive and some media which still works on it!!
I have no idea why I need it but it's nice to know that more then a decade (maybe even two) later, it still works
One of the companies I worked for had to install a virtual server in their data centre just so they could read archived data from tape technology the company had deemed end of technical life. A good thing too, as it was used in anger (so to speak) in a court case after a public inquiry into a fatal train crash.
USB may not be a standard in years to come, but I would suspect that as we trundle through this technological age, we will no doubt bring our past digital memories into the newer world.
As another example, I copied all my old pictures from a 640MB drive to a 500GB drive, and that was all later transferred (along with all the other photos on the new drive) to a 2TB drive, and I know that in a few months that will be going onto a 4TB drive....
To give an example, i was looking at laptops the other day and could not find one with a Firewire port. That port seems to have been replaced by HDMI. Therefore, if i were to buy a new laptop, my Canon Elura would be useless - it only transfers video via Firewire. My point was, we are forced to dump more and more money on technology as it keeps changing, all for the sake of a port connection.
Fred Kingston_RIP
Senior Member
Since Firewire is an Apple protocol... I'm guessing, unless you were looking at Apple laptops, you won't see many Firewire ports on PC laptops...
AC016
Senior Member
Since Firewire is an Apple protocol... I'm guessing, unless you were looking at Apple laptops, you won't see many Firewire ports on PC laptops...
My current Dell laptop has a firewire port. Yes, it was developed by Apple, but it crossed over to the PC world as well. At one time not long ago, many PC laptops had firewire ports.
FireWire had a theoretical transfer rate of 400MB/s and FireWire 800 (II) 800MB/s which until the recent introduction of USB3, would have put FireWire II at the top of the external transfer speed list.
It's true that it's very difficult to find laptops with FireWire ports these days, but strangely PCMCIA ports are still easy to come by and that's a much older technology, for which products are still an expensive option.
I have a FireWire capable old digital camcorder and some tapes with wedding stuff on it, luckily one of my PCs has FireWire on it, otherwise none of the other laptops/PCs/servers I've bough recently have that available. Though I can buy an add in card to do it, but its an expense for something I won't use often
It's true that it's very difficult to find laptops with FireWire ports these days, but strangely PCMCIA ports are still easy to come by and that's a much older technology, for which products are still an expensive option.
I have a FireWire capable old digital camcorder and some tapes with wedding stuff on it, luckily one of my PCs has FireWire on it, otherwise none of the other laptops/PCs/servers I've bough recently have that available. Though I can buy an add in card to do it, but its an expense for something I won't use often
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