Drobo has unveiled two new Thunderbolt enabled storage systems aimed at professional users. In our review of the current D5, we asked for update with Thunderblot and Drobo was listening! The Drobo 5D is a desktop-based unit that can store five drives with an additional SSD bay for caching, while the Drobo Mini is a smaller version of the storage line designed for mobile use.
The 5D is capable of storing up to 16 terabytes of protected data on 5 separate drives. An extra slot for a small-form-factor SSD is claimed to give significant performance boosts to data transfers, with USB 3.0 and Thunderbolt ports allowing for daisy-chaining and quick transfer to desktops. BeyondRAID, a flexible RAID system by Drobo, with updates to the architecture now promises increases of at least five times base performance prior to the introduction of SSDs.
The Mini, which was at Computex, is a smaller version of a typical Drobo NAS. Weighing in at only three pounds when fully drived out, the Mini can take four 2.5-inch drives to a maximum capacity of 3 terabytes. Just like the 5D, it sports both Thunderbolt and USB 3.0 connectivity and an option for an mSATA SSD for extra caching. The seven-inch by seven-inch and two-inch deep device is designed to be used on the go
No pricing for either Drobo device has been disclosed at this time, though the release has been said to be later this summer.
