Drobo has released its new Drobo Mini with SSD, which features four 2.5″ drive bays packed with SSDs and available in 1TB, 2TB and 4TB options.
The Drobo Mini connects via Thunderbolt or USB 3.0. It weighs less than three pounds and can handle multiple drive failures without data loss.
The Drobo Mini with SSD pricing starts at $1199. Check out all the Drobo Mini options here at B&H Photo.
I’m a long time Drobo user and have a 4-bay and a 5-bay unit with 3.5″ drives. I’m very happy with these. So when I found myself with a stack of 2.5″ drives from various notebook upgrades, I decided to buy the Drobo Mini and put all these drives to use.
Not a very good idea – as it turned out. The Drobo Mini is a finicky piece of equipment.
1. It works only with some specific makes and types of drives, so I couldn’t use all of the drives I had.
2. It has problems connecting to different computers. Most of the time I manage to connect it to my main Dell Precision notebook but I usually need one or two reboots before it works and I have the same kind of problems with my desktop workstation. Sometimes the computer recognizes the Drobo but says that the drives have to be formatted…..
I thought that there was something wrong with the Drobo Mini – no connection problems with the 2 other Drobos – so I had it exchanged for a new one. The new unit has the same problems.
I do not recommend this drive. If you think that you must have it, then get it fully loaded with 4 drives from Drobo.
Danny