Drobo 5D3 User manual

Drobo 5D3 User Guide

Drobo 5D3 User Guide 2
1Drobo 5D3 User Guide.......................................................................................................6
2Before You Begin................................................................................................................7
2.1 Product Features at a Glance.....................................................................................7
2.2 Checking Box Contents ..............................................................................................8
2.3 Checking System Requirements ................................................................................9
2.3.1 Operating Systems Supported .............................................................................9
2.3.2 Connectivity Interfaces Supported for Drobo 5D3 ..............................................9
2.4 Checking the Hardware You Need ...........................................................................12
2.4.1 Selecting Drives..................................................................................................13
2.4.2 Determining Drive Space Requirements............................................................15
2.4.3 Using Power Protection .....................................................................................16
3Setting Up Your Drobo 5D3..............................................................................................17
3.1 Downloading and Installing Drobo Dashboard........................................................17
3.1.1 Installing Drobo Dashboard on Windows ..........................................................18
3.1.2 Installing Drobo Dashboard on Mac ..................................................................21
3.2 Inserting Drives ........................................................................................................27
3.3 Connecting Cables on Your Drobo 5D3....................................................................28
3.3.1 Connecting Directly to Your Drobo 5D3 ............................................................29
3.3.2 Connecting Your Drobo in a Daisy Chain ...........................................................30
3.4 Powering On Your Drobo 5D3..................................................................................33
3.5 Initializing and Updating Your Drobo 5D3 to the Latest Firmware .........................34
3.6 Formatting the Drives for Your Drobo 5D3..............................................................37
3.6.1 Selecting a File System and Volume Size for Your Drobo 5D3 ..........................37

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3.6.2 Turning On Your Drobo 5D3 and Formatting the Drives ...................................38
3.7 Registering Your Drobo 5D3 ....................................................................................42
3.8 Migrating a Disk Pack from Another Drobo Device .................................................45
3.9 Using Drobo 5D3 with Time Machine or Backup Software .....................................47
4Where To Go Next ...........................................................................................................51
4.1 Using Best Practices for Protecting Data .................................................................51
4.2 Keeping Your Software Up to Date..........................................................................51
4.2.1 Checking for Software Updates .........................................................................52
4.3 Using the Online User Guide....................................................................................52
4.4 Using Context-Sensitive Help...................................................................................53
4.5 Using Knowledge Base .............................................................................................54
4.6 Registering Your Drobo 5D3 ....................................................................................54
4.7 Getting Support........................................................................................................57
5Using and Managing Your Drobo 5D3 .............................................................................59
5.1 Using Drobo Dashboard...........................................................................................59
5.1.1 Keeping Your Software Up to Date ....................................................................59
5.1.1.1 Checking for Software Updates..................................................................60
5.1.2 Manually Updating Firmware from Drobo Website..........................................60
5.1.3 Touring Drobo Dashboard .................................................................................61
5.2 Renaming Your Drobo 5D3 ......................................................................................65
5.3 Formatting Your Drobo 5D3.....................................................................................66
5.4 Safely Shutting Down Your Drobo 5D3....................................................................71
5.4.1 Safely Shutting Down Your Drobo 5D3 Using Drobo Dashboard ......................71

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5.5 Resetting Your Drobo 5D3 .......................................................................................73
5.6 Blinking Lights to Test Connectivity .........................................................................74
5.7 Enabling or Disabling System Tray...........................................................................75
6Modifying Device Settings for Your Drobo 5D3...............................................................77
6.1 Enabling or Disabling Dual Disk Redundancy...........................................................77
6.2 Modifying the Disk Drive Spin Down Time ..............................................................79
6.3 Dimming the Lights on Your Drobo 5D3 ..................................................................80
7Managing Capacity (Drive Space) ....................................................................................81
7.1 Calculating Capacity to Use......................................................................................81
7.2 Adding Capacity (or Drives)......................................................................................82
7.3 Removing Capacity (or Drives).................................................................................84
7.4 Inserting an mSATA SSD...........................................................................................85
7.5 Removing an mSATA SSD.........................................................................................87
8Checking Storage Usage and Device Status Information ................................................89
8.1 Checking Storage Usage...........................................................................................89
8.1.1 Viewing Capacity Chart ......................................................................................90
8.1.2 Viewing Storage Usage ......................................................................................91
8.2 Checking the Status of Your Drobo 5D3 ..................................................................93
8.3 Checking Your Drobo 5D3's Serial Number .............................................................94
8.4 Checking Your Drobo 5D3's Firmware Version........................................................95
8.5 Checking the Current Version of Drobo Dashboard ................................................96
8.6 Checking System Information..................................................................................98
8.7 Checking Drive Information .....................................................................................99

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8.8 Checking Performance Information.......................................................................101
8.9 Getting Diagnostics on Your Drobo 5D3................................................................102
8.10 Understanding the Indicator Lights .......................................................................104
9Using On-Screen and E-mail Alerts ................................................................................106
9.1 Setting Up or Modifying E-mail Alerts ...................................................................106
9.2 Modifying When to Send E-mail Alerts..................................................................112
9.3 Disabling E-mail Alerts ...........................................................................................113
9.4 Modifying When to Send On-Screen Alerts...........................................................114
9.5 Disabling On-Screen Alerts ....................................................................................115

Drobo 5D3 User Guide 6
1Drobo 5D3 User Guide
Congratulations on your new Drobo!
This Getting Started section will help you get your Drobo 5D3 set up and running in just a
few steps.
Topics:
Before You Begin
Setting Up Your Drobo 5D3
Where to Go Next

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2Before You Begin
Before you begin setting up your Drobo 5D3, it’s a good idea to check system and
hardware requirements.
Topics:
Product Features at a Glance
Checking Box Contents
Checking System Requirements
Checking the Hardware You Need
2.1 Product Features at a Glance
For a quick overview of features of the Drobo 5D3, refer to the following images.
Figure 1: Front of the Drobo 5D3 with the bezel (faceplate) removed.

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Figure 2: Back of the Drobo 5D3
2.2 Checking Box Contents
Check your product's box to ensure it contains all the components in the list below.
●Drobo 5D3
●1 m (3.3 ft) Thunderbolt 3 cable (compatible with USB Type-C as well)
●1.8 m (6.6 ft) power cord with power supply
●Quick Start Card
●Safety and Warranty Guide

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2.3 Checking System Requirements
Check to ensure your operating system and cable interface are supported.
Topics:
Operating Systems Supported
Connectivity Interfaces Supported for Drobo 5D3
2.3.1 Operating Systems Supported
For the most current list of supported operating systems, check the specifications for
your products online at www.drobo.com/products/index.php.
2.3.2 Connectivity Interfaces Supported for Drobo
5D3
Your Drobo 5D3 connects directly to your computer using one of the following
connectivity ports. We recommend that you use the fastest connection you have
available on your computer.
Your Drobo 5D3 device has Thunderbolt 3 and USB 3.0 Type-C interface.

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Figure 1: Back of the Drobo 5D3
Notes:
You can only use one connection at a time.
Drobo provides Thunderbolt 3 cable with the device. Depending on the model of
your computer, it may have USB Type-A or Type-C interface. You have to buy a Type-
A to Type-C cable if your computer has a Type-A interface. Speed of data
communication is limited by the slowest interface of your computer and the Drobo
device.
Thunderbolt 3
The Drobo 5D3 has two Thunderbolt ports, enabling you to take advantage of
Thunderbolt's daisy-chaining capabilities. With Thunderbolt, you can daisy-chain up to
six peripheral devices and one display from a single computer. Note that because
Thunderbolt has dual-protocol support (with DisplayPort and PCI Express), you can
connect your computer to Thunderbolt devices or DisplayPort products. You can also
connect non-Thunderbolt devices at the end of a daisy-chain by using Thunderbolt
technology adapters.
Here is the illustrative examples of your Drobo 5D3 in a daisy-chain: