# DO NOT BUY A DROBO - it does NOT protect your data! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [February 18, 2009, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-not-buy-a-drobo-it-does-not-protect-your-data/486476 "2009-02-18T23:27:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2009, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-not-buy-a-drobo-it-does-not-protect-your-data/486476/21 "2009-02-19T18:26:25Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > I have never, ever, ever had a good experience with RAID. Big stupid waste of effort. Is this [you](http://www.tvacres.com/images/raidbug2.jpg)? ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2009, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-not-buy-a-drobo-it-does-not-protect-your-data/486476/22 "2009-02-19T18:33:02Z")
> [@VinylTurnip](#): > > Is this [you](http://www.tvacres.com/images/raidbug2.jpg)? I get “Forbidden” when clicking on that link. ---
**Author:** ![Bambro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/df705f/32.png) [@Bambro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bambro)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2009, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-not-buy-a-drobo-it-does-not-protect-your-data/486476/23 "2009-02-19T19:08:11Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > I get “Forbidden” when clicking on that link. Just looking at the URL, I’ll bet it is a picture of the cartoon bugs from the Raid bug killer commercials. But I may be wrong. That’s just a swag. BTW…I got Forbidden error also. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2009, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-not-buy-a-drobo-it-does-not-protect-your-data/486476/24 "2009-02-19T20:20:12Z")
No, really, you have my permission. Click away! Odd, it works fine for me and a remote friend… maybe it doesn’t like the link from SDMB for some reason. Here’s the site page I got it from: > **[TV Acres](https://www.tvacres.com/)** > > Best General News Website 2023 ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2009, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-not-buy-a-drobo-it-does-not-protect-your-data/486476/25 "2009-02-19T20:40:34Z")
Curtis Lowe was the finestpicker to ever play the blues. What was good enough for Curt is good enough for me. ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2009, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-not-buy-a-drobo-it-does-not-protect-your-data/486476/26 "2009-02-19T20:50:37Z")
Every time I see this thread I think it’s about resonator guitars. ---
**Author:** ![HoboStew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/f17d59/32.png) [@HoboStew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoboStew)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2009, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-not-buy-a-drobo-it-does-not-protect-your-data/486476/27 "2009-02-19T21:00:06Z")
Ah the dobro. Cute. Hope it isn’t a pos like this thing was 😃 ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tao\_s\_Revenge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/73ab20/32.png) [@The\_Tao\_s\_Revenge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tao_s_Revenge)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2009, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-not-buy-a-drobo-it-does-not-protect-your-data/486476/28 "2009-02-19T21:19:46Z")
> [@Bambro](#): > > Just looking at the URL, I’ll bet it is a picture of the cartoon bugs from the Raid bug killer commercials. But I may be wrong. That’s just a swag. > > BTW…I got Forbidden error also. It’s an antileech script. It checks your browser’s refer page to see if it’s on the website. Open the image up then go to your address bar and hit enter. It’ll load. This time around your browser will send the image’s url as the refer url, which is on site, and bam it loads it. ---
**Author:** ![scout1222](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/34f0e0/32.png) [@scout1222](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scout1222)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2009, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-not-buy-a-drobo-it-does-not-protect-your-data/486476/29 "2009-02-19T22:25:57Z")
> [@garygnu](#): > > Every time I see this thread I think it’s about resonator guitars. That’s what I really want it to be about. ---
**Author:** ![HoboStew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/f17d59/32.png) [@HoboStew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoboStew)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2009, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-not-buy-a-drobo-it-does-not-protect-your-data/486476/30 "2009-02-20T00:44:28Z")
Man even their support forums are run by morons. If you ever get frustrated by the dope’s forums, just go somewhere else for a day or so. This place is like shangri la compared to that place. ---
**Author:** ![kushiel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bbce88/32.png) [@kushiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kushiel)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2009, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-not-buy-a-drobo-it-does-not-protect-your-data/486476/31 "2009-02-21T00:44:04Z")
> [@Superfluous\_Parentheses](#): > > But as noted, RAID is NOT a substitute for backups. Not least because if you accidentally overwrite or delete a file that write action will be propagated over all drives immediately. Some RAID configurations might help against failure of a single drive, but god help you if you have another failure before the replacement drive is repopulated. Striped-only RAID configurations actually increase the risk to your data, and in any case adding drives will increase the risk of a drive breaking. Ha ha ha, that happened to a local hosting company here. One of the drives in the RAID died, and while they were swapping it out, the other one died. Their backups were months out of date for some clients. However, that proved fortuitous for other companies in the area. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2009, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-not-buy-a-drobo-it-does-not-protect-your-data/486476/32 "2009-02-22T01:07:38Z")
> [@The\_Tao\_s\_Revenge](#): > > It’s an antileech script. It checks your browser’s refer page to see if it’s on the website. Open the image up then go to your address bar and hit enter. > > It’ll load. This time around your browser will send the image’s url as the refer url, which is on site, and bam it loads it. Weird. I swear I tried doing that before and it didn’t work, but it worked this time 'round. ---
**Author:** ![HoboStew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/f17d59/32.png) [@HoboStew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoboStew)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2009, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-not-buy-a-drobo-it-does-not-protect-your-data/486476/33 "2009-02-24T22:04:45Z")
UPDATE: I sent a letter to the CEO of Data Robotics, Geoff Barrall, detailing my troubles, and he just got back to me today apologizing for the whole affair. He forwarded my info to their head of operations who just called me telling me I will be getting a full refund. Obviously I would have preferred not losing my data, but this makes the pill a little easier to swallow. Kudos to Geoff for doing the right thing for his customer. ---
**Author:** ![thepustule](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c37758/32.png) [@thepustule](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thepustule)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2011, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-not-buy-a-drobo-it-does-not-protect-your-data/486476/34 "2011-04-11T18:57:02Z")
Hey HoboStew, The Drobo is pretty good at protecting data from the MOST COMMON types of failures. Those include hard drive data loss. _By the numbers_, the most common failure of disk storage is a mechanical failure in the spinning disk and head assembly, which causes the data on the one disk to be lost. Drobo is good at this. And it is good at providing storage for a LOT of data - more than will fit on a single disk. BUT there are a LOT of other possibilities as well. These include failures in the hard drive controller card, failures in the drobo itself - electrical spikes or brownouts that cause damage to the electronics of either the drobo or the drive(s) or both. The drobo cannot protect from all of this kid of stuff. It may be possible that you were unlucky enough to hit on one of those less common problems. Bottom line - you can purchase drobo, QNAP, ReadyNAS, Synology, Thecus, Buffalo, Sans Digital, or any other redundancy solution, including the very expensive enterprise ones from EqualLogic, NetApp, EMC, IBM, whatever, to protect your data. But no matter how careful you are or how good the solution is that you buy, there’s ALWAYS a chance of something going wrong. That’s why the inescapable rule of storing data is this: NEVER EVER EVER KEEP YOUR IMPORTANT DATA IN ONLY ONE PLACE. You broke that rule. You paid the price. Sorry - hate to be blunt and unsupportive, but that’s what happens. It was nice of Geoff to apologize and refund your money, but that seems quite a bit beyond the call for him. Face it. Things break sometimes. ---
**Author:** ![Nadir](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nadir/32/7302_2.png) [@Nadir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nadir)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2011, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-not-buy-a-drobo-it-does-not-protect-your-data/486476/35 "2011-04-11T19:11:15Z")
> [@HoboStew](#): > > SIf raid is no substitute for backups, WHAT GOOD IS IT? Primarily for the purpose of high(er) availability, and in some specific applications where R/W speed for large file sets is more critical like video editing, for example, depending of course on the raid level we’re talking about, as was mentioned. Look like you bought the wrong thing for your intended purpose. ---
**Author:** ![Hal\_Briston](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Hal\_Briston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hal_Briston)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2011, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-not-buy-a-drobo-it-does-not-protect-your-data/486476/36 "2011-04-11T19:36:53Z")
> [@garygnu](#): > > Every time I see this thread I think it’s about resonator guitars. Same here. And my first dog, named after said instrument. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2011, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-not-buy-a-drobo-it-does-not-protect-your-data/486476/37 "2011-04-11T21:52:10Z")
> [@garygnu](#): > > Every time I see this thread I think it’s about resonator guitars. And I bet you thought you’d seen it for the last time! Oh, well. What say we make some lemonade out of this lemon? OP, do you mind if people start using this thread to talk about Dobros, the resonator guitars invented by the **Do** pyera **bro** thers, and now a trademarked name belonging to the Gibson guitar company? Maybe we can get this zombie shambled over to Cafe Society. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2011, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-not-buy-a-drobo-it-does-not-protect-your-data/486476/38 "2011-04-11T21:54:13Z")
Gah. I swear I’ve bumped into like four new zombie threads today. I even reported one or two, but nothing’s been done. Don’t people have better things to do in the springtime? Real people, I mean. Not me. I’m a grad student. ---
**Author:** ![bucketybuck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/898d66/32.png) [@bucketybuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bucketybuck)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2011, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-not-buy-a-drobo-it-does-not-protect-your-data/486476/39 "2011-04-11T22:05:06Z")
Its not the zombies that worry me. Its the fact that I have absolutely no idea what any of you are talking about. Seriously, Frodo carried out a RAID and got your back up? Wut? ---
**Author:** ![Autolycus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/22d042/32.png) [@Autolycus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Autolycus)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2011, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-not-buy-a-drobo-it-does-not-protect-your-data/486476/40 "2011-04-12T00:38:51Z")
> [@bucketybuck](#): > > Frodo carried out a RAID and got your back up? Wut? You know… One drive to rule them all, and in the dark archive them. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-not-buy-a-drobo-it-does-not-protect-your-data/486476.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-not-buy-a-drobo-it-does-not-protect-your-data/486476.md?page=3)