Wow. That's a lot of cash. Very cool, but that's way more than I could afford to lay out. I wonder if it's using ZFS as it's filesystem. The data sheet doesn't really give away any secrets about the underlying tech.
It looks really cool, but before I committed to such a purchase, I'd want to have a bit more technical information. Haven't been able to find that on the site yet.
Also, I'd like a NAS configuration, but there are ways around that, I suppose.
@Juice60: That's why I want to see some more technical information. I'd like to know exactly how it is handling the data. It looks like you lose more overhead than for a RAID array, and despite what the video says, adding in larger disks doesn't automatically mean larger storage. I tried the configurator using some 80GB drives, and a 1TB drive, and there's a lot of wastage there.
it looks like (from the space available) that it only gives you enough disk space that it can safely store on the drives in the event that ONE of the disks fail .. so 80gb+1tb = 80gb data but 80gb+1tb+1tb = 1tb (cos worst case is u yank one of the TB out) .. i don't know .. getting a headache thinking of it :D
You're probably right. Should have thought of that. The other thing that wasn't clear (I didn't see the disks properly) was whether it takes SATA or PATA. I presume SATA, but as there aren't any tech specs that I can find...
Hmm .. cannot remember properly .. all I know was I let out a yelp when the guy in the demo movie just yanked one of the disk out. Gosh darn it .. thats not natural! :D
You're right, it does say SATA I/II. I should have read it more closely. It also says it's less complex than RAID which makes me wonder even more what they think they're doing.
Besides, anything is hot pluggable if your controller can handle it.
@Anome: It uses SATA, as you can't get 750GB or 1TB PATA drives, which the "drobolator" includes in capacity playing.
@amperris: PATA could be hot-plug, it depends on your IDE controller and your ability to stop a drive, or have intelligence to detect a drive being pulled and deal with the loss.
RE: Cost: It's not that expensive compared to other desktop NAS devices. I looked several months ago, and was unable to find a decent device worth using that was under $700, so FWIW this is a decent deal. I wound up building my own Linux server w/RAID5 rather than plunk down $700 for a crippled Linux box.
Does anyone know details on how this hot-adds space when you plug in new drives? I'm not impressed by the fact that they have a "proprietary" storage format not based on RAID. I'd be very interested to know what they're doing to achieve redundancy, especially if I bought one and were relying on that redundancy to not fail...also disappointed to see a FAQ response that "no, you don't need to back up!" I've been in environments where $100K SANs failed and lost data...this thing can fail too. And it's not RAID, so you can't just recover on a Linux box!
The more I think about it, the more it scares me. Sure it looks cool and all but I really need a lot more information on the tech behind it before I would trust it with anything important. Therefore, that makes $US499 a bit too pricey just for somewhere to store my ripped CDs and miscellanous multimedia files.
@johnhoffoss - I don't want firing lasers anywhere near my storage robot :) That data is fragile enough as it is without having to deal with a misfiring death ray.
@Anome - I would classify optical drives as having "reading lasers". "Shooting" or "Firing" lasers are completely different. One reads data, the other exterminates it. Or something.
I must admit that my first thought was it would have some sort of automated movement as well. One man's robot is another man's inert storage device I guess.
It does look like a nice, simple solution. For the non-technically minded, it would be ideal except that it seems rather pricy. Most of the concerns being voiced here are due to the absence of technical information and the price.
23 comments so far
Costs a lot, but how cool is that! gotta have it
2 years, 6 months ago by Orthobiker
Wow. That's a lot of cash. Very cool, but that's way more than I could afford to lay out. I wonder if it's using ZFS as it's filesystem. The data sheet doesn't really give away any secrets about the underlying tech.
2 years, 6 months ago by smperris
Absolutely. It's just a shame that usability often attracts a large premium. At $US 499, I fear it will be a niche product at best.
2 years, 6 months ago by smperris
It looks really cool, but before I committed to such a purchase, I'd want to have a bit more technical information. Haven't been able to find that on the site yet.
Also, I'd like a NAS configuration, but there are ways around that, I suppose.
2 years, 6 months ago by Anome
@Juice60: That's why I want to see some more technical information. I'd like to know exactly how it is handling the data. It looks like you lose more overhead than for a RAID array, and despite what the video says, adding in larger disks doesn't automatically mean larger storage. I tried the configurator using some 80GB drives, and a 1TB drive, and there's a lot of wastage there.
2 years, 6 months ago by Anome
it looks like (from the space available) that it only gives you enough disk space that it can safely store on the drives in the event that ONE of the disks fail .. so 80gb+1tb = 80gb data but 80gb+1tb+1tb = 1tb (cos worst case is u yank one of the TB out) .. i don't know .. getting a headache thinking of it :D
2 years, 6 months ago by netjackal
You're probably right. Should have thought of that. The other thing that wasn't clear (I didn't see the disks properly) was whether it takes SATA or PATA. I presume SATA, but as there aren't any tech specs that I can find...
2 years, 6 months ago by Anome
i think it says somewhere in the specs sheet that they are 3.5" SATA I/II disks
2 years, 6 months ago by netjackal
Anyway, PATA isn't hot pluggable is it? I could be wrong but that's what I always thought
2 years, 6 months ago by smperris
Hmm .. cannot remember properly .. all I know was I let out a yelp when the guy in the demo movie just yanked one of the disk out. Gosh darn it .. thats not natural! :D
2 years, 6 months ago by netjackal
You're right, it does say SATA I/II. I should have read it more closely. It also says it's less complex than RAID which makes me wonder even more what they think they're doing.
Besides, anything is hot pluggable if your controller can handle it.
2 years, 6 months ago by Anome
yeah i was curious till my head started hurting thinking of the possbilities :D
2 years, 6 months ago by netjackal
@Anome: It uses SATA, as you can't get 750GB or 1TB PATA drives, which the "drobolator" includes in capacity playing.
@amperris: PATA could be hot-plug, it depends on your IDE controller and your ability to stop a drive, or have intelligence to detect a drive being pulled and deal with the loss.
RE: Cost: It's not that expensive compared to other desktop NAS devices. I looked several months ago, and was unable to find a decent device worth using that was under $700, so FWIW this is a decent deal. I wound up building my own Linux server w/RAID5 rather than plunk down $700 for a crippled Linux box.
Does anyone know details on how this hot-adds space when you plug in new drives? I'm not impressed by the fact that they have a "proprietary" storage format not based on RAID. I'd be very interested to know what they're doing to achieve redundancy, especially if I bought one and were relying on that redundancy to not fail...also disappointed to see a FAQ response that "no, you don't need to back up!" I've been in environments where $100K SANs failed and lost data...this thing can fail too. And it's not RAID, so you can't just recover on a Linux box!
2 years, 6 months ago by johnhoffoss
Oh, and shouldn't a robot do more like vacuum your floor or shoot lasers or something cool?
2 years, 6 months ago by johnhoffoss
The more I think about it, the more it scares me. Sure it looks cool and all but I really need a lot more information on the tech behind it before I would trust it with anything important. Therefore, that makes $US499 a bit too pricey just for somewhere to store my ripped CDs and miscellanous multimedia files.
Man, it does look cool though.
2 years, 6 months ago by smperris
@johnhoffoss - I don't want firing lasers anywhere near my storage robot :) That data is fragile enough as it is without having to deal with a misfiring death ray.
2 years, 6 months ago by smperris
So you don't have an optical drive?
Yeah, when it said robot, I thought it would have an arm arrangement to add and remove drives itself. Like our tape library does at work.
2 years, 6 months ago by Anome
@Anome - I would classify optical drives as having "reading lasers". "Shooting" or "Firing" lasers are completely different. One reads data, the other exterminates it. Or something.
I must admit that my first thought was it would have some sort of automated movement as well. One man's robot is another man's inert storage device I guess.
2 years, 6 months ago by smperris
I am Leo, the podcast robot. This is Jaiku the presence robot. She is Amber, the happy robot. Domo Arigato, Mr. Roboto.
2 years, 6 months ago by ChiefTWiT
Leo, it's really hot where you are, isn't it ;)
2 years, 6 months ago by kalidor
It does look like a nice, simple solution. For the non-technically minded, it would be ideal except that it seems rather pricy. Most of the concerns being voiced here are due to the absence of technical information and the price.
2 years, 6 months ago by Anome
lol, thats a funny name
2 years, 6 months ago by JDogg
I have a mate called Bob. I give him files to archive. He is the storage Robert.
2 years, 6 months ago by dzakstar