I just purchased a 5N. I am confused as to which mSATA to install. The DROBO compatibility list is out of date.
Does anyone have a recommendation?
Also when is the best time to install the mSATA? After I do an initial load the bulk to my data? or on initial setup?
Thank you
I just installed a Samsung Evo 850 in mine and it appears to work fine. The only concern is that you don’t use a Sandforce chipset-based SSD. Since Samsung designs their own SSD’s it was a fairly safe choice.
You can install it at any time; doesn’t really matter. To my knowledge it’s only used as a read cache, so it won’t get clobbered as you add data to the Drobo (and it won’t harm anything if it fails).
Are you using a 250GB Samsumg EVO SSD? I have heard that Drobo has stated that they don’t see any performance improvement with accelerator Drive larger than 128GB.
Did you just have the 250GB handy? Have you ever used a 128GB or smaller SSD in your Drobo & noticed any improvements with the 250GB?
My Drobo 5D went into read-only mode when I inserted a 250gb Samsung Evo 850 mSATA. Went back to r/w when I removed it. I figured the 850 was incompatible until I read in this thread that @diamondsw got it to work. Firmware and Drobo Dashboard are latest versions. Running Mac OS Yosemite. Any ideas?
Joels-Mac-Pro:Drobo joel$ mount
/dev/disk2s2 on /Volumes/Drobo (hfs, local, nodev, nosuid, read-only, noowners, nobrowse)
hi for the 256 vs 128 i think it might be more of a “more cells = lasts longer” point of view, where there are more cells to be worked with or worn out over time
Hey Paul, thanks for the response. I actually was able to get the drive mounted r/w by hooking it up to a different machine and then switching back. Likely just needed to be power cycled. As for 128 vs 250, I have no idea. It was $30 more for 250, so I figured I might as well. Hopefully it’s not a performance detriment.
Joel
ok joel its good that its back to r/w again,
i dont think youll get a performance detriment, (usually people just tend to say that there isnt much justification in getting a larger one for a speed boost) 
I’m using a 120GB Samsung EVO 850. The mSata was fine at first and then died after 3 weeks of usage in the 5N. I sent it back thinking it was a faulty unit, but the replacement card died 6 weeks afterward… I’m waiting for the replacement unit once again.
If this one fails I’ll probably try an Intel 525 as listed on the compatibility page.
Well that certainly worries me about the future of mine… 
A quick update.
The replacement of the second unit is a little more cumbersome than expected, so in the meantime I found a super deal to get a 120GB mSata Intel 525 and I bought it instead.
I’ll get the EVO 850 replacement unit and I’ll sell it online sealed to get my money back.
I don’t know if it is the EVO 850 that is incompatible with the 5N or my specific setup that is to heavy for the mSata drive. I’m a pretty heavy user of my 5N. I’ve got 12TB on it, with multi-millions small files for work that I need to access constantly and I also use it as my main storage place for music files, movies for Plex, etc… So it is under a daily, constant and heavy load of activity.
Very odd, the recommended Pyro M3 [PP120GSM3SSDR ??] has a Sandforce controller !? (as per Technical Data Sheet)
As usual, I’m totally confused. I’m looking to add a 64gb or 128gb mSATA card to the 5N. Support is !@#$%
Any experience from the user Drobo cult? Now looking at the Intel, as per this thread from real life experience.
I had a 128 GB SanDisk X110 in mine. It was reported as failed. I took it out. It works fine in a NUC. I won’t bother replacing it in the 5N. I store mostly big files and it made no discernible difference when it was there. YMMV.
I’m running a Plextor PX-128M5M in my Drobo. I also store mostly large video files, so I don’t know if it’s helping or not.