I’ve installed apps on my drobo FS but never used them.
It took me about 5 months to get through the install process because casually looked for good how-to guides before doing it and was coming up short for a while.
Now I need to learn how to use them and it looks like there is a new Drobo 5 N NAS coming out.
Will it use apps?
Will the apps be easier to install and use?
I want to buy a Drobo 5 N for my mother (and she won’t be able to use apps)
Will Drobo 5 N be easier to connect with tablets and mobile phones?
Will apps make that easier?
And finally, have you ever used MediaTomb? Do you like it? Why is it not listed on the drobo FS app list?
No apps that have been announced, and existing app support is being removed. Personally I have a 5N on pre-order for the exclusive purpose of getting my data off my disk pack (already sold my FS - long story), as no apps means it’s no sale for me. I’ll be sending it back as soon as I have everything backed up on a couple 4TB drives, and probably get a Synology.
I’ve heard good things about minidlna, but that’s about it from a media perspective.
I just got off the phone with sales and they said that Drobo, the company, is trying to improve the entire DroboApps ecosystem. The end result being more apps and better quality, maybe even with support! Anyway, the 5N WILL be able to run DroboApps in the future, just not until they have finished finalizing their long term plan for the DroboApps ecosystem.
However, they have not at any time said which apps they are supporting, when that support is coming, or whether they will allow arbitrary apps.
Drobo offered apps for the FS as well - and then didn’t support them. The saving grace was we could at least install our own replacements. So far there is no such safety net for the 5N. It may yet be announced, but making a purchase this moment, there are no guarantees forthcoming. I don’t have faith that they will follow-through with either the ongoing support necessary, or the breadth of apps necessary. A completely closed “App Store” model from a vendor with a spotty history is not a model I can work with.
There’s no doubt that Drobo needs to improve the experience of installing, managing, and configuring apps - the threads in this forum attest to that! But we need to know more, and we’re not getting any information.
That jives with discussions I’ve had with product folks at Drobo. They see the advantage of an extending functionality through apps, but they also see how complicating and frustrating the current DroboApps are to install, configure, and use. It definitely goes against the “low-maintenance storage appliance” goal of Drobo.
The 5N will be able to have some kind of apps in the future, but in a more-closed or at least controlled infrastructure more like the App Store approach. The result for the end user would be a much smoother experience for finding, installing, configuring, and using “apps” on the 5N.
I’m all in favor of that, as long as there is a mechanism for an advanced user to install and use arbitrary apps. A more controlled, maintained, and simple infrastructure for Apps = excellent. A closed environment where only approved apps run = no sale. I’ve pushed this specific issue repeatedly, and no one at Drobo will comment, even obliquely. It doesn’t comfort me.
I think the Android model of having to enable an option (that defaults off) that essentially says “If you load your own stuff, you might break your device” would work well paired with a “safe mode” boot mode that excludes untrusted apps.
That would minimize the impact on support while still allowing flexibility for developers and tinkerers.
They certainly didn’t on the FS, which is why I expected at least the same functionality on the 5N. The biggest problem we had was workign around some of the brain-dead things the Dashboard would do to the unit.
Contrary to all published plans (and even Drobo Inc’s own firmware release notes), the Drobo 5N does support apps - at least mine does on my migrated FS disk pack. I’m an infinitely happier camper.
