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Pogoplug lets Drobo into its Cloud, offers 10GB of 'public' storage to sweeten the deal
Do you use a Drobo for your RAID storage needs? Wish you could access that data from wherever your travels take you? Well then, wish no more! Today the company has a announced a partnership with Pogoplug aimed at getting your Drobo hooked up to the cloud. So long as you've got an internet connection, you'll now be able to use Pogoplug software to privately access your data and multimedia from wherever you may be. Better yet, Cloud Engines is also throwing in 10GB of free off-site storage on its recently minted -- and Dropbox-like -- Pogoplug Cloud service. Curious for info on getting started? You'll find details in the press release after the break along with a cringe-inducing "demo" video reminiscent of The Office to further explain it all.
Data Robotics's Drobo S storage robot goes USB 3.0, starts at $800
Talk about maintaining a pace. Nearly a year to the day after the introduction of the original Drobo S comes this: the Drobo S. Er, the second generation Drobo S. As you could probably surmise from the title above, the only notable difference in Data Robotics' newest storage robot is the addition of USB 3.0, but the triple interface ensures that eSATA and FireWire 800 users are also taken care of. Of course, USB 2.0 backwards compatibility is inbuilt, and while no theoretical speed figures are given, we're sure it's far quicker than the (now) prior version. It'll be sold starting today directly from the company, but beginning on November 18th, it'll also be featured on HP Small Business Direct. The (empty) base model will go for $799, while $1,299 buys you a five pack of 1TB HDDs, $1,549 gets you five 1.5TB HDDs and $1,799 lands you with five 2TB HDDs. In related news, Drobo Sync is now shipping in order to provide offsite backup to DroboPro FS units, and Billy Corgan still enjoys playing with Bluetooth speaker balls while on vacation. Crazy, right?
Drobo wants Mac users to "Upgrade your RAID"
Did you buy one of those "quasi-RAID" storage devices over the last few years? You know, the ones that tried to squeeze a few hard disks into a shiny silver box and call it RAID? In many cases, those devices simply implemented RAID 0 (block-level striping without parity or mirroring) as a way to create a big drive out of two or more smaller drives. If one drive fails, the entire array is toast. Well, Data Robotics wants to save Mac users from that harrowing experience by offering to "Upgrade your RAID." Until the end of the month of September, you can trade in a qualifying device (which will be sent to a reputable electronics recycler) and receive 10% off of a DroboPro or DroboElite, or 15% off the price of a Drobo, Drobo S, or Drobo FS. To take advantage of this deal, register on the Drobo upgrade page, or call the Drobo sales folks at 1-866-997-6268. This program is a good way to keep your data safe and probably gain a lot of capacity in the process.
TUAW and Data Robotics team up for Drobo discounts and giveaways
How would you like your choice of a brand-new Drobo S or Drobo FS? The Drobo S (valued at US$799) is a 5-bay storage solution featuring the Data Robotics BeyondRAID technology, with eSATA, FireWire 800, and USB 2.0 ports, The Drobo FS (valued at $699) includes 5 bays and a Gigabit Ethernet port for network sharing. One of these units can be yours if you win the giveaway. What do you need to do to enter? Just follow this link to the Drobo giveaway page and fill out the form, and a winner will be announced on Thursday afternoon, July 29th Tuesday 7/27 via Drobo's Twitter account. [Apologies; Drobo miscommunicated the end date for the drawing.] So far, so good. But how about doubling your chances to win a Drobo? If you're a Twitter user and tweet the following phrase: "Follow @Drobo and @TUAW today, then retweet this message for a chance to win a new Drobo!" you'll be entered in a second drawing for a 2nd generation Drobo. This sleek storage device, valued at $399, has 4 drive bays and features FireWire 800 and USB 2.0 connectivity. But wait, there's more! As a bonus to everyone who enters, Data Robotics has put together some instant rebate coupons that will be sent to entrants on Thursday, July 29th and good through midnight on July 31st, 2010. You can save $75 on a Drobo S or FS, or $155 on a Drobo S or FS bundled with drives in the US and Canada, or €58 on a Drobo S or FS (£48.57) in the EU 27 member states plus Norway and Switzerland, just by entering the contest. Good luck! And while you're dreaming of your new Drobo, be sure to visit the Data Robotics site to check out the complete line of BeyondRAID storage products from the company. Disclaimer: Data Robotics, Inc. is the sole administrator of the Drobo giveaway and discount program and will determine all the conditions and requirements of participation. TUAW is not responsible for the giveaway and cannot answer questions or provide support for any hardware or applications on the Drobo device. No advertising contract or financial relationship exists between TUAW and Data Robotics, Inc.
Drobo is having a "Spirit of Macworld 2010" video contest
If you're an amateur or professional videographer and you'll be attending Macworld Expo 2010 in San Francisco this week, Data Robotics has a contest just for you. Come up with an original video (less than 60 seconds in length) that best captures the spirit of Macworld 2010, submit it to a special Drobo Flickr group by February 19, and you'll have an opportunity to win one of two Drobo S five-drive storage devices (note that non-Pro Flickr users are limited to 2 video uploads per month). The Drobo S connects to your Mac via USB 2.0, Firewire 800, or eSATA, and can be populated with up to five drives for tons of storage. TUAW has reported on the new Drobo S and Drobo Elite devices in the past, and they're a popular storage tool for anyone who needs vast amounts of expandable storage but doesn't want to hassle with administering a RAID array. To find out if you've won the contest after your entry has been made, just follow Data Robotics on Twitter at http://twitter.com/drobo. Full contest rules and instructions can be found here.
Data Robotics introduces 5-bay Drobo S, enterprise-ready DroboElite
Data Robotics has been quietly raking in the dough (and trying to match up supply with demand) ever since it launched its 8-bay DroboPro back in April, and now the company is making yet another bold move: doubling its product line. Starting today, the traditional 4-bay Drobo will be joined by the quicker Drobo S, and the DroboElite will be added at the high end for those in the enterprise. The Model S ups the ante by adding a fifth drive bay in order to allow for two drives to fail without any data being lost -- a feature that was previously reserved for the aforesaid Pro. It's also boasting an ARM chip with a 50 percent faster clock (compared to the Drobo), enabling the FireWire 800 performance to see a 20 to 25 percent boost; moreover, an eSATA socket has been added alongside the tried-and-true USB 2.0 port. Users will also be able to switch between single- and dual-drive redundancy via the software control panel, though you should be warned that the DroboShare NAS adapter will not work on the Drobo S. We spoke with Mark Fuccio, the firm's senior director of products and marketing, who told us that the functionality was left off due to the possibility of a "bad customer experience." In essence, the network throughput would crawl compared to a direct connection, so the company simply opted to avoid the headaches rather than cater to those of you who demand NAS functionality on every external HDD to hit the market. Moving on, the DroboElite is carving a new path for the company, one that caters to high-maintenance enterprise users looking to serve up to 16 hosts while providing up to 255 smart volumes. The Elite is basically a Pro on steroids, with room for 8 hard drives, single- or dual-drive redundancy and an all-new connection method. If you'll recall, the Pro provided a single gigabit Ethernet port (iSCSI), FireWire 800 and USB 2.0; the Elite ships with two gigabit Ethernet sockets and nothing more (aside from a USB port used only for device management), so it's pretty clear that this one isn't looking to satisfy the home consumer market. Both devices are shipping out today, with the Drobo S starting at $799 (with no HDDs) and being sold at the same outlets as the Drobo (which isn't vanishing, by the way). The DroboElite gets going at $3,499, though it'll only be sold through outlets such as CDW and the like who specialize in medium-to-large business sales. Oh, and just in case you're curious, the existing Drobo will continue on at its $399 price point (MSRP), though we're told that smart shoppers should find it for less near Black Friday and throughout the holiday season.
