New Drobo S and Drobo Elite From Data Robotics

Hi Peter - It appears to me you has misunderstood my writing. Here are some facts that support my words. <br />

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USB 1.1 – 15 Mbps<br />

FireWire (1394a) – 400 Mbps<br />

USB 2.0 – 480 Mbps<br />

FireWire 800 (1394b) – 800 Mpbs<br />

SATA 1.5 – 1.5 Gbps<br />

SATA 3.0 – 3.0 Gbps<br />

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I said -> "eSATA port for vastly increased speed over FireWire 800 and USB 2.0."<br />

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You said -> "Firewire and USB over SATA is new to me."<br />

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I'm not totally sure how you transposed my words, but I clearly say eSATA over the others and you say it in reverse.<br />

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I'm not totally sure what you mean about the connection in my last sentence. I just tell people eSATA may not be for them in certain situations.<br />

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All in good fun Peter :~)<br />

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Lucikily I started with being very careful this time !<br />

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<cite>or otherwise Firewire and USB <strong>over</strong> SATA is new to me.</cite><br />

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This tells it all ... It is normal dutch - and probably won't be amarican/english at all to mean "transported over". I guess you just don't say such a thing.<br />

Anyway, I never saw the "bettered" thing in it.<br />

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All cleared up (one again :-).<br />

Next time I'll again look harder, and that "connection" was about a supposedly strange/wrong context, and even I saw that, I still couldn't read it as intended.<br />

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Thanks Chris for taking it as ... intended.<br />

Peter

Would love a detailed post of how to convert an internal SATA2 port (from the CD Rom drive) of a Mac Mini to an eSATA port - if possible. <br />

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Also are there benefits to using eSATA to USB to firewire sonically?

Hi dgad - You can use a cable like this http://www.amazon.com/Tripp-Lite-P952-003-eSATA-Signal/dp/B00119P6SU<br />

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eSATA is advantageous in terms of speed and it removes a device off the USB bus. This is crucial is you have a USB DAC.<br />

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Let me know if I missed the gist of your question about estata and sata.

Money allowing iSCSI would be ideal for mounting an external drive array on a Mac Mini. But that isn't happening. I am using USB 2.0 which is a bit slow. But since the Firewire bus is used for the DAC the fastest access to a normal setup would be eSATA. But since Mac Mini don't come w. eSATA I wanted to open it up and remove the CD/DVD rom drive and convert the SATAII connection to an external eSATA connection. Will this cable do the trick? Is there a benefit sonically using eSATA over a USB connection for an external hard drive?<br />

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I am currently using a Drobo as a music and video data server across my Mac network via the Firewire port through an iMac (a Mac Mini is the actual media server). I had to get the Drobo out of the listening room because of the noise of the drives (and the Drobo fan); and the idea of the Droboshare using USB to connect across the network just seems silly to me (and to many of the techs at Drobo who thought that video just wouldn't fly).<br />

But you have to wonder, Chris. The folks at Drobo have a fabulous product on their hands, they keep adding different methods of connectivity; and yet they cannot seem to find it in their power to put a simple NIC connection into the back of one of their drives...... I don't get it.<br />

I definitely agree that a simple NIC in the unit would be the best solution an pretty simple to implement.

Don't mean to bash Drobo - in fact, I'm seriously considering getting a Drobo system myself. However, this insightful article makes me a little hesitant:<br />

http://www.luminous-landscape.com/tutorials/backup.shtml<br />

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Especially this paragraph is food for thought: <br />

"One note on RAID, having participated in creating a RAID software controller long ago, it takes about 2 years of operation to really get the bugs out in every case, so stay away from young implementations and most of all, stay away from any "it's a proprietary implementation that's better than RAID, including our secret sauce". You don't want to be stuck with some bizarre failure that no one can understand or fix."<br />

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If anybody has a strong counterargument against the above argument, I would love to hear it, as I really find the Drobo appealing. <br />

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Jens

Hi Jens - I don't disagree with the statements. But the Drobo works perfect for many people without a technical background. I don't use one because I like to configure my own NAS and get very technical. Most audiophiles want a set it and forget it solution. Drobo fits the bill for them.

It seems to me from reading the Drobo site that the Droboshare only works with the Drobo 4-bay model and NOT the 5-bay Drobo S:<br />

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"Supports up to two Drobos*<br />

DroboShare can support two simultaneously connected Drobos*. This means your networked storage can grow up to a theoretical 32TB on a single DroboShare since each Drobo can grow to 16TB as hard drive sizes expand. Since you’re using Drobo*, you can rest assured knowing your storage is not only safe, but also expandable at any time.<br />

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*DroboShare is compatible with the 4-bay Drobo only."<br />

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That is a drag, and your summary above should be edited if my reading is correct.

I am currently using a Drobo as a music and video data server across my Mac network via the Firewire port through an iMac (a Mac Mini is the actual media server).<br />

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