Verdict and Conclusion
Just like the Drobo 5Dt we reviewed last month, we were very impressed with the simplicity, the ease-of-use, and configurable options of the Drobo 5C. Physically, the two devices are literally identical with only one difference. The Drobo 5Dt is using the Thunderbolt 2 connection, while the Drobo 5C is using the USB Type-C connector.
As far performance is concerned the read/write speeds of the Drobo 5C is more than acceptable for day-to-day usage. Although is slower than the Drobo 5Dt, it’s still much faster than most external USB 3.0 hard drives that I’ve used. Remember, anything with a Thunderbolt interface is always going to be faster, and more expensive!
Featuring BeyondRAID technology, the Drobo 5C allows you mix and match hard drive of different brands, capacities and speeds. I really love this feature. This means … if you later find that your storage isn’t enough, you just replace one of the hard drives with a larger capacity one, regardless of brand, make or speed! The system will rebuild itself automatically.
What’s amazing about the BeyondRAID system is that you can physically move your entire disk array from one Drobo to another, without having to lose any data or risk of damaging your disk array!
So what’s the price? Well, you can purchase the Drobo 5C for around USD $299-349 (HKD $3,000~), which I think is a real bargain. Of course you’ll have to add your own drives to the unit! What makes this unit (or any other Drobo with BeyondRAID) extremely appealing, is the fact you can mix and match hard drive of different brands, capacities and speeds. If you have several hard drives laying around with capacities of 500GB or more, why not put them in to the Drobo! Buy now at Amazon – https://goo.gl/0hylGk
Pros
- Good speed on both read and write
- Extremely easy to setup and configure
- Mix and match hard drive
- USB Type-C connector
Cons
- None I can think of
Final Thoughts
In conclusion, the Drobo 5C is perfect for any user wanting an external storage device (DAS) that’s hassle-free and easy to set up. The Dashboard software is simple to use and the real the winner for me, is the ability to mix and match hard drive of different brands, capacities and speeds.
