Floppyhead – Digital Media and Streaming

Data storage is one of the most important aspects of a media center. Storage is also one of the most expensive portions of a media center, especially if you are trying to store high definition content.

One solution to the storage problem is Drobo, the world’s first data robot. Drobo combines up to four hard drives into a big pool of protected storage, almost like a raid array. Here are some of the cool features of Drobo:

• Complete protection of all data stored on it hard drives
• Drobo completely manages your configuration
• Add hard drives at anytime and Drobo updates the amount of storage
• Drives do not have to be the same size.
• Auto repair corrupted drives
• Detection of drive failure

The only downside to Drobo is that some storage space is relegated as data protection. Drobo does not need to have the same size drives, like Windows Home Server. To test out different configurations: check of the Drobolator Capacity Calculator.

Also, Drobo is USB only right now, there are no NAS options available. The system costs about $500, a bit steep considering the hard drives are not included. If they add a network option, I might consider getting one.