Drobo's USB-C drive array is tailor-made for your new PC
The five-bay self-managing storage box replaces the classic Drobo.
You haven't had a whole lot of options for very high-capacity external drives on computers with USB-C ports. How are you supposed to archive the video projects from your MacBook? Drobo wants to help: it's launching the Drobo 5C, a five-bay self-managing drive that, unsurprisingly, plugs into your system's USB-C port. You won't gain a speed advantage over a USB 3.0 box (it averages 250MB per second if your drives are fast enough), but that's not the point. This is about giving you future-proof storage that you can upgrade at any time. As with other Drobos, you just have to swap in a new disk if you're running low on space or encounter a failure. There's no need to shuffle files or configure a RAID array.
The 5C is about $50 more expensive than the standard Drobo at $349, although you are gaining an extra bay for your trouble. There's no going back, at any rate. The 5C replaces the standard Drobo in the lineup -- you'll have to get comfy with the (thankfully included) USB-A adapter if you're using a legacy system. However, that potential inconvenience should be worth the tradeoff when the new Drobo will have to last several years or more.
