Anyone compare the speeds? Is is drastically different?
I actually went from Thunderbolt to USB 3.0 as a matter of preference and have found no practical speed difference (aside from quantitative speed tests). I challenge most (not all) users to find a difference during normal use. I’d say the biggest difference for me is during a restart sequence. The Thunderbolt drive picks up a bit quicker than USB 3.0. That’s about it.
I have the Drobo S with USB 3.0. Looks like i’ll hang onto it then!
Mind you, USB 3.0 on the Drobo 5D is likely to be much faster than USB 3.0 on the Drobo S. There have been massive improvements to processing power and memory that remove some of the bottlenecking that occurred on the older models.
(Or not having had an “S”, am I talking out of my ass?)
Given the throughput numbers people have been posting, I believe you are correct.
Drobo S definitely has more “brainpower” than the 4-bay Drobo, but I am quite certain that the 5D has more “brainpower” than the Drobo S.
Per Drobo blog FAQs on 5D and Mini
[quote]* We’ve significantly increased the hardware (processor and memory) horsepower in the two new systems.
- We’re utilizing the most recent software code base from our B1200i system. This software has been improved and optimized, knows how to automatically leverage SSDs along with hard drives, and is achieving well over 2,000 IOPS and streaming throughput that saturates all 3 gigabit Ethernet ports on the B1200i.[/quote]
i still use my Drobo-s with the usb2 port.
it seemed to be more stable, and the speeds are fine with me.