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Subject: Re: [AE] [OT] Alternatives to a Drobo
From: Chris Zwar <chris@chriszwar.com>
In-Reply-To: <list-4737085@media-motion.tv>
Date: Thu, 7 Jun 2012 09:08:35 +1000
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Message-Id: <B7C5EC76-F160-4F13-8D3E-A392BFB9942F@chriszwar.com>
References: <list-4737085@media-motion.tv>
To: "After Effects Mail List" <AE-List@media-motion.tv>

Yes Drobos are really a backup device.  Mine is an older model (4 bay, =
FW800) and it can't read any faster than about 25-30 meg a second.  =
Every so often it just stops for a bit and has a think.  There is no way =
you can use it as a media drive to edit from.
Ars Technica posted a great 2-part article that looks at how Drobos work =
in fine detail:

http://arstechnica.com/business/2011/03/drobo-review-1/
=
http://arstechnica.com/business/2011/04/drobo-review-part-2-day-to-day-use=
/2/

Even though they're reviewing a newer model, they also experience =
exactly the same performance that I see with mine - a max data rate of =
about 30 meg a second, and occasional pauses as the machine catches up.  =
The throughput seems to be limited by the power of the - or the =
underpowered - ARM processor which runs the thing.  So unless they've =
significantly upgraded the speed of the processor - something they =
haven't done with any of the other models - I would be very sceptical =
that a thunderbolt connection would actually mean faster data rates.  =
After all, Firewire 800 can do about 100 megabytes a second and yet I =
never see more than about 25.

As a backup device I'm pretty happy with the Drobo, and their cost has =
fallen massively since I bought mine.  But if there was something newer, =
cheaper, and fast enough to edit ProRes from then I'd be very tempted to =
switch.

-Chris

(PS.  The comments in the Ars Technica articles are very interesting and =
have a few suggestions about competitors, including the NetGear ReadyNAS =
pro.  I'll check it out... but it does look like the easy upgradability =
of the Drobo is still not matched by other external storage products)

On 07/06/2012, at 6:25 AM, Richard Bajjalieh wrote:

> Wow! Very different from my experience but good to know.=20
>=20
> Tim,
>=20
> Did it act this way out of the box, or over time?=20
>=20
> I had an internal Raid 5 array that I built that acted that way which =
is why
> I bought the Drobo. So far, so good.
>=20
> Rich Bajjalieh
>=20
>=20
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Tsassoon [mailto:tsassoon@aol.com]=20
> Sent: Wednesday, June 06, 2012 12:23 PM
> To: After Effects Mail List
> Subject: Re: [AE] [OT] Alternatives to a Drobo
>=20
> Phooey. I had an eSATA Drobo and it was just as ridiculously slow as =
all the
> others, with equally annoying software. It's basically like RAID 5 =
with an
> order of magnitude more software overhead. It slows to a crawl as you
> approach the utilization ceiling, which seemed awfully close to 50%. =
Call it
> "RAID 50", or even "RAID 500". Thunderbolt is unlikely to make any
> difference, since bus speed isn't the problem. But try it if you like, =
but
> keep the box and packing you can eBay it as "Like New!".
>=20
>=20
> Tim Sassoon
> SFD
> Santa Monica, CA
>=20
> Sent from my iPhone
>=20
>=20
>=20
> On Jun 6, 2012, at 5:48 AM, Benny Christensen =
<bennychristensen@me.com>
> wrote:
>=20
>> FYI - I just saw an article about a new Thunderbolt Drobo.
>=20
> +---End of message---+
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