Robot Manages SMB Data Storage

June 7, 2007: A new Californian startup claims to have developed the world’s first fully automated storage “robot”, designed to protect data and keep archives online without a guiding human hand.

With data for even small businesses entering terabyte levels, managing storage across multiple external drives can be time consuming and lacking in consistency. While not a robot in the C3PO sense of the word, Data Robotics claims that its Drobo storage robot removes any need to manually manage data, by enabling users to simply add or swap drives on the fly when more capacity is needed.

Drobo is essentially a small, black external disk storage device that connects to Mac and Windows systems via a USB 2.0 port. It can be loaded with four standard 3.5” SATA disks which are configured into a single, completely redundant RAID system automatically. The device indicates when it is approaching capacity flashing a yellow light when it is 85% full, and a red light when completely filled.

While it sounds like a typical NAS box (minus network connectivity which Data Robotics claims will appear in a future model), Drobo is unique in its ability to manage itself.

Aside from requiring no installation and keeping an eye on capacity levels, Data Robotics claims the device is designed to anticipate much of what can go wrong with digital storage and automatically monitor and repair problems that put data at risk.

If a drive fails, data is automatically backed up to another disk (provided the system has more than one installed) and managed until the faulty disk is replaced. The interesting part is, while all these problems are going on, the device can continue storage operations as normal with data being written and read from the device, even if every drive is replaced in turn.

It is these “self-healing” and self management features that will draw the attention of those who prefer plug-in solutions with the bare minimum of maintenance, although with a US$499 (AU$592) price tag the convenience of low to no maintenance certainly comes at a price.

Comment on this story