backup robot

Data Robotics' "Drobo" is the first example of a digital backup robot. It doesn't use robotic arms to manipulate hardware. Instead, it automatically formats and distributes data between the different hard drives inside of it, using storage virtualization technology to back up each drive onto the other ones.

Each drive is hot swappable, which allows a user to switch out drives and continue to work with files stored on the system without powering down and reconfiguring the array (unlike RAID). Drobo can both sense and repair data corruption, providing protection and redundancy against unexpected faults by backing up to other disks in the device.

Additional software is not required to connect the robot to a PC. Once it has been connected, the backup robot appears on the desktop as a single external USB hard drive. Software on the CD bundled with Drobo includes a dashboard that allows simple, "drag-and-drop" manipulation and administration of the robot.

A system of color-coded LEDs provides a visual guide to storage status. Green indicates safe operation, yellow warns that drives are nearing capacity and red alerts the user that data is not being automatically protected. A series of blue LEDs along the bottom of the unit displays the total amount of storage capacity in use.

The Drobo backup robot includes its own operating system, CPU and RAM, along with four SATA drive bays that can each handle up to one terabyte of data. These capabilities make the backup robot similar to a home server, though it is not marketed as such. Drobo does not provide protection against fire or other natural disasters and its small, easily transportable nature does make it vulnerable to theft. Users concerned about irreplaceable or mission-critical data loss should consider an offsite backup or similar disaster recovery strategy.

Here’s a video demonstration of a Drobo by Jim Schaff.

Learn more about Data storage backup tools

Do you have something to add to this definition? Let us know. Send your comments to techterms@whatis.com

More resources from around the web: - Data Robotics Inc. sells the Drobo backup robot. - Drobospace.com is an online community devoted to all-things-Drobo, including tips, hacks and other modifications. - Thomas Hawk blogged about his hands-on experience with Drobo. - ZDNet wrote a favorable review of the Drobo backup robot, selecting it for an Editor's Choice Award. - ArsTechnica also reviewed the backup robot extensively.

FILE EXTENSION AND FILE FORMAT LIST File Extension and File Format List: A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z #

RELATED CONTENT Improved enterprise storage management tools are needed, especially for data backup Data growth and virtual servers are driving the need for improved storage management tools that monitor the IT infrastructure from end to end and... Enterprise data storage capacity management tools still found lacking Storage vendors are belatedly making progress with capacity management tools, but they can be limited in scope and don't always follow industry... Storage configuration needs go beyond SRM tools The only configuration tools for many IT organizations of all sizes remain the element managers that are built into their arrays and switches.

RELATED GLOSSARY TERMS Terms from Whatis.com − the technology online dictionary backup  (SearchStorage.com) Backup is the activity of copying files or databases so that they will be preserved in case of equipment failure or other catastrophe. (Continued...) Backup and recovery: Do you speak geek?  (WhatIs.com)