Data Robotics Drobo FS

NAS Reviews: Network Attached Storage

The Data Robotics Drobo FS is a five-bay storage array with Beyond RAID technology for quick and easy back-up. We were pretty keen to get our hands on it too, as it's the first opportunity we've had to test a Beyond RAID system. We've got high hopes for the Drobo FS, especially given its high-end price tag, but it'll have to pull out all the stops to rival the Synololgy DS1010+ that we're currently in the process of testing. Hardware & Handling The Drobo FS has five 3.5-inch hard drive bays. It can therefore be used with desktop PC hard drives or 2.5-inch drives fitted with adapters. It has an excellent-quality finish, with a black metal casing and a shiny plastic front that lets light from the hard drives' control diodes filter through. It's an attractive NAS that's subtly stylish! The front plate is magnetic, making it easy to remove for access to the drive bays inside. Drives can be installed without screws and simply slide into the bays. The back is almost entirely taken up by a ventilation grille, behind which is a 12 cm fan. Just under that, there's an On/Off button, an Ethernet port for network connection, and a power socket that hooks up to the transformer, which is unfortunately not integrated into the system itself.