Drobo How-To User manual

Drobo How-To Guide
Use Drobo and Pogoplug Software to Create a Personal Cloud
www.drobo.com | Use a Drobo and Pogoplug Software to Create a Personal Cloud
1
Users love Drobo®for the protection that Drobo provides for photos, videos, files, and your entire digital life
at home or for your home office—and for its easy-of-use. And they often want to share these files with
others or access them when they’re away from home. This makes the concept of personal cloud quite
interesting: this document discusses Pogoplug and how you can use Pogoplug Software to create a
personal cloud. Also included is a section describing cloud backup of selected content on a Drobo to the
Pogoplug Cloud.
Like Drobo, Pogoplug Software is an easy-to-use application, which takes only a few minutes to install and
configure. Pogoplug Remote Access Software enables remote access and sharing of files stored on a Drobo
from a computer anywhere in the world. Remote access is free of charge with Pogoplug Remote Access
Software; media streaming is available with a one-time unlimited license.
Benefits of Pogoplug Software include:
•Consolidate all your storage devices
•Access your files from anywhere
•Stream content to a remote device*
•Protect your data by syncing it to the cloud
* Requires premium membership upgrade with which a one-time fee buys a license for ALL your computers.
Topics
Installing Pogoplug Software
Adding remote access for Drobo storage
Accessing files remotely and streaming files
Syncing data from your Drobo to the Pogoplug Cloud
What You Will Need
•Drobo storage array (must remain powered on to access files)
Computer to which DAS or SAN Drobo is connected must also remain powered on.
•Computer for Pogoplug Remote Access Software (must remain powered on to access files)
Operating Systems: Microsoft Windows XP/7 or Apple Mac OS X 10.6.6 or later
•Pogoplug account and Pogoplug Premium if you wish to stream to mobile or media devices.
•High-speed Internet access to the system on which Pogoplug Remote Access Software is installed and
to which Drobo storage is connected
NOTE: Examples in this document show screen captures from a Windows computer. The procedures follow
a similar flow on a Mac OS computer, but the some screens may look different.

Drobo How-To Guide
Use Drobo and Pogoplug Software to Create a Personal Cloud
www.drobo.com | Use a Drobo and Pogoplug Software to Create a Personal Cloud
2
Installing Pogoplug Software
STEP 1
NOTE: Pogoplug Uploader, also called Pogoplug Browser, is not the software to use for remote access to a
Drobo; it is used exclusively for Pogoplug Cloud.
From the computer that has
access to the Drobo storage
(and that will remain powered
on to run Pogoplug Software),
go to the Pogoplug website
(www.pogoplug.com). Click
Expansion at the bottom left
or go directly to the expansion
page,
pogoplug.com/expansion.
Download the Free Trial of
Pogoplug Remote Access
Software.

Drobo How-To Guide
Use Drobo and Pogoplug Software to Create a Personal Cloud
www.drobo.com | Use a Drobo and Pogoplug Software to Create a Personal Cloud
3
STEP 2
Once the Pogoplug Remote Access Software
file is downloaded, start the installation.
Depending on your security settings, you may
be asked to accept a warning to run the
Pogoplug installation.
Continue and select a language, accept the
license agreement, and confirm or change the
install location.
Finally, click Run Pogoplug and click Finish.

Drobo How-To Guide
Use Drobo and Pogoplug Software to Create a Personal Cloud
www.drobo.com | Use a Drobo and Pogoplug Software to Create a Personal Cloud
4
STEP 3
Once the software is installed, create a
Pogoplug account to manage your personal
cloud leveraging the Drobo storage at your
home or home office.
In the Welcome to Pogoplug dialog, select “I
am new to Pogoplug” and click Next.
STEP 4
NOTE: Premium access allows you to stream content from your Drobo storage device anywhere in the
world, including to mobile devices, for greater functionality and freedom of access to your data. It is
available for a one-time fee.
Now create your Pogoplug account by entering
your email address and a password. If you
already have a Premium License Code, enter it.
If not, you can upgrade at a future time.

Drobo How-To Guide
Use Drobo and Pogoplug Software to Create a Personal Cloud
www.drobo.com | Use a Drobo and Pogoplug Software to Create a Personal Cloud
5
STEP 5
NOTE ON IMAGE DATABASES: Some photo management software such as Apple Aperture and media
management software such as Apple iTunes use a database for organizing files. Pogoplug Remote Access
Software works with individual files in a folder structure and not on files in a database structure. For
remote access, choose the file location where the source files reside and not the location of your
management software database. Excluding the location of management software databases is
recommended. If necessary, create a location for individual files not in a database to facilitate access via
Pogoplug.
NOTE ON BACKUP: The data in the location(s) selected for remote access will not be backed up offsite to
the Pogoplug Cloud following these instructions provided so far in this document. These instructions enable
remote access and download of your files. If you want to back up your data to the Pogoplug Cloud, see the
section entitled, “Syncing data from your Drobo to the Pogoplug Cloud.”
Finally, the Pogoplug wizard will ask you
which files you would like to make available
for remote access. Common locations are
suggested in the Pogoplug wizard.
Depending on the number of files on your
Drobo, it may not be practical to share all of
them, as indexing can take a long time and
creates many index files. It is recommended
that you choose the types of files (photos,
movies, documents) that you are most likely to
want to share or access remotely.
Keep in mind that additional folders or files
stored on your Drobo can be added at any time
using the Pogoplug Preference screen of the
newly installed software (illustrated in the
following section).
The newly installed Pogoplug agent is started automatically when you boot your computer. As stated
previously, the computer on which the software is installed must be powered on for access to your personal
cloud. From the agent, you can add specific files from specified locations to be remotely viewed through the
system tray (most likely located on the bottom right of your screen).

Drobo How-To Guide
Use Drobo and Pogoplug Software to Create a Personal Cloud
www.drobo.com | Use a Drobo and Pogoplug Software to Create a Personal Cloud
6
Adding Remote Access for Drobo Storage
The steps in this section can be used to add additional files to your personal cloud that were not configured
during the initial installation of Pogoplug Remote Access Software. The configuration for Mac OS computer
follows a similar flow, though you access commands from the menu bar and not the system tray.
STEP 1
Right-click the
Pogoplug icon to
navigate to your
Pogoplug Preferences.
STEP 2
In the Pogoplug
Preferences window,
click the Remote
Access tab to view a
list of the current folders
selected for remote
access.

Drobo How-To Guide
Use Drobo and Pogoplug Software to Create a Personal Cloud
www.drobo.com | Use a Drobo and Pogoplug Software to Create a Personal Cloud
7
STEP 3
Next click the add
folder icon to select
data located on your
Drobo for remote
access.
STEP 3A
Pogoplug Remote Access Software is not optimized for adding database applications such as Aperture or
iTunes for remote access or cloud backup. In this example the folders Pictures (left) and Music (right) are
selected for remote access.

Drobo How-To Guide
Use Drobo and Pogoplug Software to Create a Personal Cloud
www.drobo.com | Use a Drobo and Pogoplug Software to Create a Personal Cloud
8
STEP 3B
Since you’ve added only specific files on your Drobo for remote access using your personal cloud, the
folders are now visible in your preferences shown below.
Accessing Files Remotely and Streaming Files
STEP 1
In a web browser, go to
my.pogoplug.com/ and log into
your account. Once you’re
logged in, the added locations
for your personal cloud are
displayed.
NOTE: For DAS or iSCSI SAN
Drobos, the computer to which
the Drobo is connected must be
powered on so that you can
access the data on that Drobo.

Drobo How-To Guide
Use Drobo and Pogoplug Software to Create a Personal Cloud
www.drobo.com | Use a Drobo and Pogoplug Software to Create a Personal Cloud
9
The added locations for your personal cloud are
displayed.
STEP 2
Your data stored on your Drobo in the previous section is now available in your personal cloud and visible
via your Pogoplug account. To view your files, select the folder you would like to explore. In this example
the folder titles Music was selected.
In this example, the song December 1963 by The Four Seasons was selected for remote access. To play the
song, select the file and it will play automatically shown in the player controls located at the bottom of the
browser screen.
NOTE: To stream music and videos to a mobile device, you must purchase a Premium membership.

Drobo How-To Guide
Use Drobo and Pogoplug Software to Create a Personal Cloud
www.drobo.com | Use a Drobo and Pogoplug Software to Create a Personal Cloud
10
STEP 3
You can play, download, or copy/move
the file. Select the file and then
choose the desired action.
STEP 4
To share your personal cloud, from the initial screen shown in steps 1 and 2, select collaboration and enter
an email address to invite and enable collaboration. You can also send a link to specific individuals. Note
that for collaboration or to accept links, recipients must have a Pogoplug account.