If you're looking for a simple way to expand your computer storage capacity, but want to add a bit more security in case of a hard drive failure - while at the same time having some room for future growth - you'll inevitably head towards the Drobos.
And now, we're getting some new Drobos that might get even more attention. For starters, we have the new Drobo 5D, which as you could probably imply by its name, can carry up to 5 hard drives (3.5" hot-swappable) and comes with USB 3.0 and 2 Thunderbolt ports. You also get a nive little mSata SSD to act a disk accelerator cache to speed things up.
But if you're looking for something a little bit different... I urge you to take a look at this new: Drobo Mini.
Drobo seems to think that people might want to carry their data with them while on the road (and I believe some people do). So, this Drobo Mini is roughly the same size as an external hard drive case, but carries 4 2.5" drives inside, tucked away in spring loaded slots that make changing drives as easy as pushing SD cards into their slots. But don't let its size fool you: you get the same USB 3.0 and 2x Thunderbolt ports as you get in the 5D - and even the SSD cache accelerator! Looks like a winner...
... Now... all they need to be perfect is to have a Gigabit Ethernet port for network access without a computer... :)
[via engadget]
