I am about to upgrade a client’s Gen 2 Drobo 4 bay to accommodate drives larger than 2TB (4TB) by upgrading the software and firmware to 1.4.2 (firmware) and the latest Drobo Dashboard 2.5.3. They are running an older Mac Pro 4,1 running OS 10.6.8 Server. Drobo is connected via Fireware 800. Currently running Dashboard 1.7.3 (1.7.30095), Firmware 1.3.7(1.254.30359) Drobo#1,(Drobo Disk pack). I understand best practice is to power down, eject drives and update empty Drobo, then power down and insert drives, reboot drive. My question is whether going from current versions listed here directly to latest versions available could cause problems? Are there interim versions that should be installed first? Any advice on this? Appreciate any experience on this.
Just upgrade with the drives in place. After the unit restarts, it applies the new firmware and makes necessary changes on the diskpack. No need for interim versions, either - each firmware version is a complete image.
Thank you for the response. I mentioned ejecting drives as it was recommended elsewhere on this site. I failed to mention the Drobo Gen 2 is a shared device used as FTP site for client. They cannot afford extensive downtime so I am trying to cover all bases to insure smooth, transparent upgrade. Have you had much experience with this?
Well, I’m a casual home user only but I don’t recall having any serious problems upgrading my old v2 multiple times over the years. In general, it seems that during the firmware upgrade operation performed with Drobo Dashboard, the file gets merely copied to some designated area within the device (or the diskpack itself). Then you have to unmount and reboot the Drobo and, from what I understand, it’s only then when the actual firmware is being flashed (by a bootloader, presumably). It did happen several times, that after uploading the firmware file via Dashboard, Drobo failed to unmount and reboot. In these cases, I’ve simply shut the host machine down and then the Drobo promptly rebooted (instead of just going to sleep with its LED turning orange, as usual).