The Drobo device does keep detailed logs internally. You can request a copy of the current log through Drobo Dashboard. The file is then dumped to your desktop in an encrypted text file. A simple PHP script exists to decrypt the log file for Drobo v1 and v2 units, but the Drobo Pro uses some other encryption that nobody managed/decided to crack yet.

I've sent Data Robotics numerous log files. At one point, they wanted me to remove the drive in bay 3/4 which was a WD 750 that had been working fine for months. When I asked if the logs revealed anything wrong with the drive, the response I got was "Not exactly."

When I look at the logs, I do see various read/write errors on bay 3/4, but the cause of this could be anything. The hard drive passes the Drobo's internal diagnostics and it passed brief WD diagnostics when I had it outside of the Drobo.

I think software is to blame for this corruption and it probably started happening long before I introduced new drives to the system. My guess is that the Drobo has been working in a degraded state for quite some time. The initial cause could really be anything. Some freak power outage, not shutting the Mac down properly, etc.

For what it's worth, my old Drobo and the replacement they sent are both running the latest firmware.