I only received it this week. The build quality of the thing is very high. The actual function of the device is a little odd.

When setting up for the first time (in Windows), the software asked if I would like a maximum volume size of 1TB or 2TB. These two options were presented on a slider, but the slider had blank space for maybe 3 or 4 more choices. It looked like this:

I don't know if this is a limitation of Windows XP, but I would have liked to make a single volume the total size of the array.

So, I have four 750GB drives in the Drobo. This comes 2.03TB. Annoyingly, the extra .03 of a TB causes the Drobo to get assigned a 2nd drive letter. The 2nd drive letter isn't limited to 30GB though, it's listed as 2TB. I suppose this is reserved for future expansion. I have not done any tests yet to see what happens if I stick more than 30GB on the 2nd drive letter. My assumption is that the space will be made available as needed to either the 1st or 2nd volume.

If you do not use the Drobo agent software, knowing how much space is left on your Drobo would not be very easy:

This is the first 2TB Volume. Currently, all data is on this volume.


This is the second 2TB volume that was created due to the .03TB in my array over the 2TB limit. As you can see, Windows reports a 2TB volume.


This is the Drobo agent software. Although there are two volumes, it reports the space available in a single pie chart. An icon in the task tray also displays this pie chart.

The FW800 cable supplied with the Drobo is very thick and doesn't like to bend. I have another one around somewhere, but I (naturally) can't find it at the moment. The connector on the Drobo-supplied FW800 cable also doesn't "snap" into the Drobo or my FW800 card. So, I have 2TB of data connected with a cable that is merely laying in the ports.

The Drobo isn't silent, but it's not loud either. The drives will power-down after some idle time. The fan seems to cut off completely during this time and will cycle on and off when there is activity. When on, the fan is audible but not annoying. I can live with it.

The power-on sequence powers on each drive in succession about 1 or 2 seconds apart from each other. The Dlink DNS-323 did the same thing, but the Drobo is ready to go much, much quicker.

Data transfer with the Drobo over FW800 is dramatically quicker than the DNS-323 over Gigabit. I did not take any scientific measurements, but it feels like night and day. It's not the fault of the network connection either. Accessing the Drobo with my MacBook Pro (over 802.11n) is far snappier than accessing the DNS-323. It's safe to say the DNS-323 is not a speed demon.

Overall, I'm happy with the Drobo. However, I'm glad I didn't pay full-price for it. The agent software seems less developed than it should, considering the beauty and hefty price of the hardware. I'm not in love, but I think I'll keep it since it seems like the best option for me at this time.