Following the release of the Drobo 5N2 a few months ago, Drobo has released an update to their direct access storage (DAS) line with the Drobo 5D3. While the Drobo 5N2 targets the department/workgroup and home media audience, the Drobo 5D3 targets the media editing power user with its USB 3.0 Type-C and dual Thunderbolt 3 ports.
“The 5D3 is a direct result of working with our creative customers to make their workflows more efficient and productive,” said Drobo CEO, Mihir Shah. “We pride ourselves in setting the standard for storage simplicity with automated, easy to use, and reliable data protection.”
The newest Drobo has up to double performance over the Drobo 5D and focuses on “supercharging and simplifying” creative workflows with features that include the aforementioned ports, BeyondRAID technology, upgraded processor, support for dual 4K or single 5K monitors, mSATA Accelerator Bay, and a two-year warranty. Up to six Thunderbolt devices can also be daisy chained to the Drobo 5D3 and have enough power to charge a laptop.
“We understand that creative professionals and consumers have storage needs that change over time,” said Drobo CTO, Rod Harrison. “Drobos are the only direct-attached storage arrays on the market with unlimited expandability. Users have the ability to choose the drives that fit their capacity, brand and price.”
Migration from an older compatible Drobo is easy. All users have to do is upgrade the firmware on both Drobos, power them off, move the drives, and flip the power back on and connect to the new Drobo. In addition to easy migration, other features of the Drobo 5D3 include:
- Elegantly Designed Metal Chassis
- Intuitive LEDs and management dashboard
- Removable magnetic faceplate
- Carrier-less drive bays – no screws required
- Innovative Architecture
- 5 x 3.5” HDD or SSD, mSATA option
- Ease of Use –Designed with User in Mind
- Setup in less than 10 min
- Traffic light analogy
- RAID Automation
- Protection From Single or Dual Hard Drive Failure
- Journaled BeyondRAID Virtual Architecture – Eliminates “RAID5 write hole”
- Battery-Backed Memory and eUSB – Protection from sudden power loss
- Background Data Scrubbing – Periodically verifies all user data and metadata; Searches and repairs corrup0on/inconsistencies
- Cache Pre-Heat – Hot data cache: read-ahead; Snapshots of cache metadata saved to disk; Recovery power failure
Available with an MSRP of $699 USD, current Drobo customers with either a Drobo S, 4Bay (Gen 3),5D/5Dt, or 5C are eligible for a $50 USD discount when they purchase a new Drobo 5D3 from the Drobo store before July 11th.
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