Gosh, I haven't thought about them in a while. There was a time I was managing many Drobos at different clients, and it devolved into a very frustrating experience. But, in the course of taking over and consolidating backup operations I was able to tabulate and prove what was previously considered isolated issues was actually systemic. I was eventually able to acquire devices to "beat on", for which I could recurringly cause it to fail by scripting large data moving operations - which eventually led to a return of many of the devices and a breaking of relationship with Drobo.
With that in mind, I still have a 5-bay unit at home that I occasionally use as a media player storage device. Its usage is light, so I know how to avoid breaking it. It was something destined for the trash for previous failures, and I wanted to see how far along I could keep it limping along. HTH -- Espi On Thu, Oct 22, 2015 at 11:30 AM, Darren Martin <[email protected]> wrote: > Glad I'm not the only one that is having these problems. Been looking for > a backup solution upgrade and will look at replacing my storage as well. > > D > > > > -----Original Message----- > From: [email protected] [mailto: > [email protected]] On Behalf Of Micheal Espinola Jr > Sent: Thursday, October 22, 2015 10:05 AM > To: [email protected] > Subject: Re: [NTSysADM] Synology NAS Recommendations > > The types of issues I've dealt with could not be rectified or managed, as > the problem only became increasingly worse, with a shorter MTF with each > occurrence - until the devices were not capable of enough uptime to > complete backups, It was a problem with the hardware that the Drobo techs > could not or would not explain. > > The issues I experienced all started off with the devices becoming > suddenly inaccessible. Even local direct access would not work. The > device would have to be hard-booted in order to recover. Over time it > would require multiple hard-boot attempts and/or delays with the device > being completely off. Everything made me believe it was an overheating > component issue. Drobo techs could not or would not confirm. > > My advice would be to use them the least amount as possible. Use for > recovery purposes may prove to be impossible because of the same issues > outlined above. If anything I've written rings true for you at all, lose > the devices as soon as possible. > > > > -- > Espi > > > > On Thu, Oct 22, 2015 at 8:15 AM, Darren Martin <[email protected]> > wrote: > > > Similar issues with Drobos here. Any advice on keeping them > running after support expires?? > > Thanks. > > D > > > -----Original Message----- > From: [email protected] [mailto: > [email protected]] On Behalf Of Micheal Espinola Jr > Sent: Thursday, October 22, 2015 7:03 AM > To: [email protected] > Subject: Re: [NTSysADM] Synology NAS Recommendations > > Just seeing this post now... > > > I am a former/current Drobo admin/user as well as a Synology > admin/user for a few years now. My opinion is pretty plain and simple: > Drobos are crap. Synologys are good. > > I was initially impressed with Drobos until I started to deploy > and maintain them in large environments. The bigger/busier the > environment, the worse they are. Performance goes exponentially in the > toilet to the point of literal unavailability - aka, it kills them. I've > had Drobo support replace quite a few of them, only to experience the same > problems after prolonged use. I was primarily using them as backup > devices. Very large/long backup jobs can kill them. I seriously recommend > removing any/all at your first opportunity. > > > Synology is my current go-to for these types of devices. I > haven't experienced any issues of note. > > > > > > -- > Espi > > > > On Wed, Oct 7, 2015 at 1:25 PM, Gordon Pegue <[email protected]> > wrote: > > > > I currently have a DroboPro unit populated with 8 – > Seagate Constellation ES 2GB drives connected to a server via iSCSI. > > The unit is used to store backup sets and other > file/folder content for my modest Windows network. > > The hardware is robust and very stable but using Drobo > Dashboard to do anything beyond checking device status is painful…. > > > > I’ve lurked here for some time and see repeated > recommendations for and kudos given to Synology NAS units. > > > > Before I can pitch to management my thoughts on replacing > the Drobo unit, I was wondering if anyone on this list was a former Drobo > user and now a Synology user who might comment on the transition. > > > > Inviting any other commentary/recommendations as seen fit. > > > > TIA > > Gordon > > > > > >
