Drobo Storage system User manual

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Introduction
Drobo, the world's first storage robot, is a fully automatic data storage system
that provides the only effortless, safe and expandable repository for all of your
digital assets. Drobo connects easily to your PC via USB 2.0, and appears like
one large external USB Drive to Windows, requiring no configuration to use.
Many of the key features delivered to enhance your user experience include:

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The Ins and Outs of Drobo
While Drobo does much of the work for you, there are still a few items that you
will need to understand to take full advantage of its rich feature set. Take some
time to familiarize yourself with your Drobo.
Related Topics
Getting Started

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Getting Started
Add Hard Drives to Your Drobo
Drobo has four data bays that can each hold a single 3.5" SATA hard drive.
PATA hard drives are not compatible and should not be used.
Before connecting Drobo to your PC, simply insert your hard drives into the
empty data bays. You may use any capacity 3.5" SATA hard drive, from any
manufacturer, at any speed (5400 RPM, 7200 RPM, etc).
Warning: Any data on a drive that is being added will be erased.
Tip: Start with at least two hard drives to provide data redundancy and protect
against a single hard drive failure.
To add a hard drive:
1. While holding the hard drive flat (horizontal), flip it so its connector is at the
bottom.
2. Point the connector-end away from you.
3. Slide the hard drive into the desired data bay, with the connector-end
entering first, until the drive latch locks the hard drive in place.
4. You are now ready to Connect Drobo to your PC.
To Connect Drobo to your PC:
1. Connect the square end of the supplied USB 2.0 cable to the USB 2.0 port
at the back of your Drobo.
2. Connect the other end of the USB 2.0 cable to an available USB 2.0 port
on your PC.
3. Plug the supplied AC power adaptor into the power port on the back of
your Drobo.
4. Plug the power cord into a standard 110 volt power outlet.
5. Drobo does not have an on/off switch so this will start the power-up
sequence. During this time, the data bay indicators will turn red and all 10
blue lights will be displayed on the capacity meter.
6. As the hard drives come online, the data bay indicators will turn green.
7. You are now ready to Format Your Drobo.
Format Your Drobo

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You can use the Drobo Dashboard Format Wizard or the Windows Disk
Management Utility to format your hard drives. This manual formatting procedure
must be done when you add hard drives to Drobo for the first time. In the future,
when you add new hard drives, or replace drives with larger ones, Drobo will
automatically format the new drives for you. Only your new drives will be
formatted, not the existing drives.
If Drobo Dashboard is running, it will automatically know that a hard drive needs
to be formatted and immediately begin the Wizard by showing you the Format
dialog box. In this case, continue at the following procedure, "To Format Drobo
Using the Drobo Dashboard."
If the Format dialog box did not appear, see "Starting Drobo Dashboard" and
then continue with the following procedure at Step 2.
Instructions about using the Windows Disk Management Utility to format your
drives can be found later in this topic.
To format Drobo Using the Drobo Dashboard:
If Drobo Dashboard is installed and running, it will automatically recognize if hard
drives need to be formatted. The Format dialog box will appear and ask if you
want to format your hard drives.
Note: If the Format dialog box did not appear, see "Starting Drobo Dashboard"
and then continue below at Step 2.
1. From the Format dialog box, click Yes, then got to Step 8 to continue at
the Format Options dialog box.
2. Click on the Advanced Controls button.
3. Click on the Tools tab.
4. Click on the Format button.
5. When asked "Are you sure you want me to reformat your drives?" click
Yes to continue. Click No if you are unsure about erasing the data on your
drives.
6. If there is data stored on Drobo, you are asked to confirm a second time:

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7. Click OK to view the Format Options dialog box.
8. From the Format Options dialog box, do one of the following:
yIf you only want to connect Drobo to a Windows computer, select the
recommended format type, NTFS.
yIf you want to connect Drobo to a NAS (Network Attached Storage)
appliance, or have the option of connecting it to either a Mac or
Windows computer, then select the FAT32.
9. Click Format to begin formatting the hard drives in Drobo. When Drobo is
finished, it is ready for service.
Warning: The Format command erases all data on all hard drives and is not
reversible.
Tip: Once formatted, Drobo will handle formatting any new hard drives you may
add. Any new capacity from adding a new hard drive will be available within
seconds.
Tip: Use the Drobo Dashboard Format button when you wish to erase all data
on your Drobo. This should only be used when you are confident you want to
erase all data on your Drobo.
To format Drobo using Windows Disk Management Utility:
1. Right click on My Computer, and then select Manage to display the
Computer Management Window.

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2. Click Disk Management. On the right-side of the console, the formatted
and unformatted disks are displayed. Drobo should appear at the bottom
of the console with the following characteristics: Unknown, 2048 GB, and
Not Initialized.

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3. Right-click on the disk described in Step 2 and then select Initialize Disk.

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4. Windows automatically launches the Initialize and Convert Disk Wizard.
Click OK.
5. Drobo is now initialized and appears in the Computer Management
Console. The disk status has changed from Unknown to Basic and from
Not Initialized to Online, but the disk space will still appear as
Unallocated.

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6. Identify the disk described as 2048 GB Unallocated. This is a critical
step so you don't accidentally format the wrong disk!
7. Next, you'll format the disk. Right-click in the area where it says
Unallocated to open a popup menu and select New Partition.

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8. The New Partition Wizard will launch. Click Next.