Drobo and Airport Extreme

Question

I am about to get a Drobo for use as a NAS. I also have an Airport Extreme (has a USB 2.0 port on the back fyi).

Would it make since to get the DroboShare as well and make this a "true" NAS and connect it to my gigabit network via CAT6 or save the money and just connect the Drobo to the Airport via USB?

Answer 1

The advantage of the DroboShare doesn't lie in speed but in flexibility: The connection between the Drobo and the DroboShare is USB - just like between the Drobo and the AirPort.

The DroboShare has two advantages over the AirPort solution:

1. You can connect two Drobos which will still be seen as one big volume on the network, so you get more unpartitioned space (as if you'd ever need more than the 16TB you can currently format a drobo with).

2. It's possible to install applications on a DroboShare - from simple stuff like an SSH daemon to the complicated tools like a iTunes Media Server (Firefly) or even a bittorrent client.

If you just want to make your Drobo network accessible though, just connecting it to the AirPort works just as well.