NewImageDrobo says it will soon have Thunderbolt-enabled data storage products, as well as adding support for solid state drives. The setup, while extremely pricey, would allow data to run 20 times faster than with USB 2.0 alone.

Drobo CEO Tom Buiocchi wrote in a blog post that "customers have been very clear to us about their desire for Drobos with Thunderbolt support".

I was brought up on the east coast, where we enjoyed the monster summertime thunderstorms every year. One of the coolest things about thunder is that you see it first and then you hear the “kaboom” impact – the delay sends anxious anticipation through everyone, and if you’re into science, you can estimate how far away the bolt is based on the length of the delay. Let’s face it, thunderbolts are cool.

Today, Drobo is previewing our new Thunderbolt technology much like the real thing – you’ll see it now (check out our home page for the quick glimpse) and you’ll soon hear the kaboom. Yes, there are some other Thunderbolt products out there now, but I guarantee you that you haven’t seen anything like what we’re building. Nothing even close.

The company will be demonstrating prototype Thunderbolt-enabled Drobos at a technology show in Taiwan. The company didn't offer details on pricing or availability.

Top Rated Comments

spencers Avatar
147 months ago
We have a DroboPro... While it's great and all for storage, the stupid thing is god-awful slow.

Makes me wonder if a thunderbolt-equipped product would change anything.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
GSPice Avatar
147 months ago
I'll only consider it if it's less than $5000
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
olowott Avatar
147 months ago
whats up with thunderbolt device prices:confused:, its really out of...... well my pocket
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
blevins321 Avatar
147 months ago
We have a DroboPro... While it's great and all for storage, the stupid thing is god-awful slow.

Makes me wonder if a thunderbolt-equipped product would change anything.
This. Until they improve their underlying processor and firmware capabilities, there's no chance the thing will come close to needing Thunderbolt's speeds. The one I used to have stuggled under the best of times to even come close to saturating USB2.0.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Sensamic Avatar
147 months ago
How about dual drive redundancy and no downtime should a drive fail? Also you never get any old drives lying around, just buy drives and slot them in as you need which can be cheap. Great selling points of the Drobo and it's still a valid product in today's market. I'd never use any single system proprietary or not without backup. At least with drobo you get warnings when drives have failed with still access to your files if you need. I'm not a drobo fanboy as my next drive is a DIY enclosure just because it's so cheap. x2 4TB drives and done, my external backup solution which will reduce backup time from my drobo to be much quicker. I can even add another 5 bay enclosure vía eSata. Customer service is beyond excellent and they offer many software updates with plenty of great stuff (the newest update came with Plex).

I do think the price of Drobos should come down as everything is so much cheaper, faster etc.. Even with FW and USB 3.0, Drobo is very slow.

You make it sound like Drobo is the only option that can do those things.

Double redundancy? Ive got that on my Synology NAS. Ive had it for 2 years and not a single drive failure ever. I can still access my data if a drive fails and its much, MUCH faster than any Drobo. I can stream 4 HD 1080p on 4 screens al the same time and probably even more.

Drobo is ****. Before buying one I googled info and there is people mad at it all over the internet.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
TwoBytes Avatar
147 months ago
This might have been a selling point when drives were more expensive but today it seems rather moot. Furthermore, if stability is your goal, using a mix of old drives is asking for trouble. If your data is valuable enough to invest in a four bay enclosure, then why go with a proprietary system and trust your data to a bunch of mix and match hard drives? Seems pretty foolish.
How about dual drive redundancy and no downtime should a drive fail? Also you never get any old drives lying around, just buy drives and slot them in as you need which can be cheap. Great selling points of the Drobo and it's still a valid product in today's market. I'd never use any single system proprietary or not without backup. At least with drobo you get warnings when drives have failed with still access to your files if you need. I'm not a drobo fanboy as my next drive is a DIY enclosure just because it's so cheap. x2 4TB drives and done, my external backup solution which will reduce backup time from my drobo to be much quicker.

I do think the price of Drobos should come down as everything is so much cheaper, faster etc.. Even with FW and USB 3.0, Drobo is very slow.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

iOS 17 and iPhones Feature

iOS 17: 10 New Features That Just Launched

Sunday September 17, 2023 12:35 pm PDT by
In June, Apple announced iOS 17 with a wide range of new features and changes for the iPhone. Following over three months of beta testing, the free software update will be released this Monday, September 18 for the iPhone XS and newer. Below, we have recapped 10 key features coming to the iPhone with iOS 17, with additional features coming later this year. The update should be released to...
iPhone 15 Pro Lineup Feature

iPhone 15 Models Feature New Setting to Strictly Prevent Charging Beyond 80%

Tuesday September 19, 2023 2:04 pm PDT by
All of the iPhone 15 and iPhone 15 Pro models feature a new battery health setting that prevents the devices from charging beyond 80% at all times when enabled, as confirmed by The Verge's Allison Johnson during a Q&A session today. The new setting is separate from the pre-existing Optimized Battery Charging feature on iPhones, which intelligently delays charging past 80% until a more...
maxresdefault

Apple Releases iOS 17 With StandBy, Live Voicemail, Improved Autocorrect, FaceTime Video Messages and Tons More

Monday September 18, 2023 10:05 am PDT by
Apple today released iOS 17 and iPadOS 17, the latest operating system updates that are designed for the iPhone and iPad. As with all of Apple's software updates, iOS 17 and iPadOS 17 are available for free. iOS 17 is compatible with the iPhone XR/iPhone XS and later, while iPadOS 17 runs on the iPad mini 5 and later, the iPad 6 and later, iPad Air 3 and later, the second-generation 12.9-inch...
flighty standby

Best Apps With New iOS 17 and watchOS 10 Features

Monday September 18, 2023 3:02 pm PDT by
With the release of a new operating system, there are multiple features and design elements for developers to adopt. Now that iOS 17 is out, many major apps are getting interesting updates today, which we've rounded up below. watchOS 10 also has a new design language, so there are a range of Apple Watch updates to check out too. Flighty (Free, Premium Subscription) Popular flight tracking...