Hi
The new DroboElite has Dual Ethernet iSCSI ports.
What will the advantages be over the current DroboPro with a single iSCSI connection?
Will transfer speeds increase significantly for example?
Regards
Martin
Dual iSCSI interface enable Teaming for higher level of fault tolerance and w/o Teaming we could furthe separate iSCSI traffic to divert to different network segment. I’m sure there are other benefits …
So does this mean more than one host can connect simultaneously?
Yes but we have multiple hosts connecting to our DroboPro NOW anyway. Based on the product description, the Elite can support up to 16 hosts and 255 Smart Volumes! Jee, 255 x 16TB = 4080TB (i.e. almost 4PB)
What OS? Or was there a quiet update that enabled it? I’m on OSX.
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What OS? Or was there a quiet update that enabled it? I’m on OSX.
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VMware ESX4i, Windows Server 2008R2 w/ Hyper-V, Windows Server 2008 64-bit w/ Exchange 2007, Windows 7, WinXP SP2.
I am a bit surprised.
Pro has been announced as VMWare-Certified.
According to the website the Pro does not support VMFS volumes, but the elite does. Is there a firmware difference? is the cpu faster/the same?
We bought our Pro according the DRI “VMWare-Certified” - now it does not seem to be certified anymore?
This confuses me.
according to the paper they say its 50% faster on the iscsi interface, i wonder if this is due to the dual interfaces or if you get a 50% increase on each interface…[hr]
i think they are just hiding the fact that the pro is WMWare-certified to push for the new Elite.
The DroboPro is VMware ready & certified & it supports VMFS. I’m sure it’s just silly typo or marketing forgot the details!
Anyway, priced over US$3K which is more than double of the Dro. The Elite is not for me!
Based on some of the marketing info I’ve read, the Elite is a “true” iSCSI SAN, implementing full protocols that allow use of MPIO and multiple volumes/targets/initiators across many different OSes. The Pro uses a limited implementation of iSCSI for high-speed connectivity, but without the additional features that one would expect in a SAN.
At $3500 list without drives, it’s a bit pricey when compared to the Pro and other NAS-with-iSCSI competitors, but when compared to enterprise-class iSCSI SANs (i.e., Equallogic), it’s quite reasonable.
But I’m with Rambo: It’s not for me.
So. How much faster is the Droboelite than the Drobopro? Uh… in the real world.
Faster during rebuilding of the BeyondRAID on the Elite than the Pro should be the case cuz the new 8-bay is using a faster CPU but for I/O even w/ dual iSCSI 1 Gigabit Ethernet, I don’t think the Elite will be 2x or 3x faster but its price is higher. If the Elite has dual 10Gbps interface, then it’s fassssst … in both the virtual or real world!
Hello all,
The DroboPro is certified with VMware ESX 3.5. Due to the single GigE port, advanced features such as VMotion and Storage VMotion, and HA will not be “officially” supported by VMware.
The DroboElite is currently being certified with both VMware ESX 3.5 and VSphere 4 and will have all advanced features supported thanks to the second GigE port.
Key Differences between the two:
LUN Affinity - DroboElite has LUN affinity for true multi-host support that is much easier and safer to manage and eliminates any risk of accidentally sharing LUNs between hosts. Technically speaking, this can be accomplished with DroboPro if you are an advanced iSCSI user - but it is not officially supported outside of VMware (which is cluster aware and therefore eliminates the risk of multiple hosts sharing a LUN) and has the potential risk of corrupting data if the administrator accidentally shares a LUN between hosts.
More Performance - DroboElite has a faster processing engine that - in conjunction with the second GigE port - will deliver up to 60% improved performance over the DroboPro (Up to 175MB/s for DroboElite vs. 110MB/s max for DroboPro).
Up to 255 Smart Volumes - The DroboPro was designed as a single server solution and is limited to 16 Smart Volumes. The DroboElite was designed for up to 16 hosts and therefore supports up to 255 Smart Volumes.
Dual iSCSI Interface - Not only is this important for improved performance, but is also key for data availability - especially when used for primary storage. Many businesses simply refuse to use solutions with a single interface for primary storage, so the DroboElite is the obvious choice for those environments.
Regards,
Jim Sherhart
Data Robotics, Inc.
Using a single GigE port, is the Droboelite faster than a Drobopro?
And that means faster as a practical matter.
The Drobopro seems to be able to saturate the GigE port only on occasion.
Typical Drobopro performance tends to be substantially less than 110MB/s.
I attribute this to CPU and memory limitations in the Drobopro.
With the higher performance CPU and possible additional memory, is the Droboelite less susceptible to variable reduced performance and HD video frame drop than the Drobopro?
Hi Jim,
More important than LUN Affinity, Performance, More Smart Volumes, and dual iSCSI is the ability to MONITOR and MANAGE the device while it is online to my ESX servers, including the ability to get full status and to delete or create Volumes while others remain online. Currently with my Pro, I have to shut down all VMs, and then shut down all ESX Servers connected to the Pro, then I have to physically GO to the Data Center and hook up a laptop to the Pro with USB, do all the admin changes, and then after disconnecting the laptop, power up the ESX servers and start up all VMs.
This is absolutely crazy. To make matters worse, WHILE the ESX VM servers and VMs are running, the only way to know (in a very very very very very limited fashion) what is going on in the Pro is to hang a webcam in front of it, so I can see the status lights from a remote location.
I simply can’t imaging how VMWare could possibly certify something as unmanageable as this. I’m actually pushing my VMWare Rep for a response on this, and awaiting a reply.
Have U taken a closer look at a product branded BalancePoint by Akorri? I encourage U download the trial version & give that a try. Btw, I’m not affilate w/ Akorri in any way. U know the saying when the going gets tough, the toughs go shopping! 
I will check it out. But to be up front: If I have to go and PURCHASE extra software to properly manage the Drobo, I will be much more motivated to instead go any buy the ReadyNAS 3200 which costs a similar amount to the Drobo Elite, is also VMWare Certified, and does all these things I’m talking about without buying extra 3rd party management tools.
… just sayin’
No, you don’t want to buy NetGear ReadyNAS cuz I don’t believe they have fixed the way X-RAID2 works w/ Mix & Match Drive capacity and performance issue w/ a defuncted RAID-5 or RAID-6. We don’t have those in our DroboPro & DroboElite. Well, we all have our little problems!
However, the idea of 5 yrs warranty does sound “unbeatable” to me!
BalancePoint is an interesting product, especially for guys like us who are working w/ ESX/ESXi/vSphere environment. Let me know ur comments.
I wonder how many Elite DRI is selling, but I bet it’s not much because the product is badly positioned. It’s way too expensive for prosumers and too slow/low on features for business use. For the same price you have other products offering better performance and better management features, which is a basic mandatory requirement.
DRI should have pushed the Elite as a Pro+ with perhaps a 15 or 20% premium, not twice the price of the Pro - LOL!
@digitalfuzzy, please provide facts, not opinions pulled out of … though I am interested in how you form your opinions. Will you educate me?