Tech Gift Guide

Things are no doubt a bit manic on your hard drive what with all those videos and mp3s floating around which only seem to be on the increase from the likes of iTunes Store and Amazon. And our ever increasing desire for high-definition quality does not help either. But fret not as we’ve got a wonderful little device to make your data storage issues fly away.

We’re going to admit right now that this is definitely not the cheapest storage system out there. But don’t click away yet, gather around to at least give us a chance to explain why Drobo rocks. Other than the fancy blinking lights and cool robotic technology it makes data storage a snap. No longer will you need to worry about backups and hard drive failures. Adding more storage is as simple as slotting in a newer, higher capacity drive, and waiting for the robots inside to work their stuff.  There’s no worrying about RAID, multiple drives, syncing or the headache involved in expanding the storage.

So with that under the belt hopefully it gives you a few reasons to read on. Connectivity to your system is achieved via either Firewire 800 or  USB2.0 and Ethernet via the optional DroboShare device. Certainly the greatest feature of Drobo is that you connect it to your PC or Mac and slot in hard drives. Drobo then quietly formats the drive and expands the available storage capacity. You don’t need to fiddle with anything and you’re kept informed with lights on the front of the device indicating what it’s up to. The traffic light systems show the health of your Drobo unit with green for ok, yellow for time to add a more storage (85% full) and red for it’s full up and needs a new drive <strong>now</strong>. There are also a few blue LED’s at the bottom which slowly edge up as your data usage increases.

Drobo is unique in that it’s BeyondRAID feature means you’re able to add new drives without having to match their storage capacity. This means that you can slot in any sized drive and have the storage available. Quite a blessing over the complexity that RAID would bring about. In total you’re able to shove in 16TB worth of drives, more than enough for most needs. Drives are easily slotted in without the need for carriers or screws. So simple even your mum could attempt it.

Tech Gift Guide would definitely recommend Drobo to take the pain out of storage. Yes it’s a bit of an investment but it pays for itself in no time. And of course whoever you get this for (even yourself!) will love and adore you forever. The best prices are definitely from Amazon and you’ll find more details, including free shipping for USA / UK