Drobo B1200i 12-Bay Business System Takes On Enterprise
Data Robotics has announced its play for the business backup and server market, introducing the new 12-bay Drobo B1200i expected to ship in Q2 2011. Using the same BeyondRAID intelligent drive array system as the existing Drobo units, the B1200i joins the 8-bay DroboElite and 8-bay SAN iSCSI arrays available now.
There's support for Microsoft Exchange, Sharepoint and other business applications, as well as file-sharing and offsite backup, server virtualization and VMware. As well as the twelve internal bays, there are three iSCSI ports on the back for attaching external arrays.
Redundant power supply support and a new business-oriented dashboard round out the main specs. The Drobo B1200i will arrive in Q2 2011, price tba.
Press Release:
Drobo Means BusinessNew Drobo Business Line Delivers 'Big Storage in a Small Box' – Unprecedented Combination of Technical Sophistication, Ease of Use and Affordability for Small and Medium Businesses
SANTA CLARA, Calif. – Feb. 8, 2011 – Drobo, makers of the award-winning data storage products for businesses and professionals, today introduced a new line of sophisticated yet easy-to-use and affordable storage solutions for small and medium businesses (SMBs). Designed specifically for customers who need critical business storage capacity without the complexity and price of legacy storage solutions, the new Drobo business systems are optimal as primary and secondary storage for Microsoft Exchange®, Sharepoint®, and similar business applications, as well as departmental file-sharing or offsite backup, and server virtualization deployments including those using VMware solutions.
"VMware recognizes the importance of affordable storage alternatives for firms implementing virtualization as they continue on the path toward IT as a service," explained Parag Patel, vice president, global strategic alliances, VMware. "Like larger organizations, SMBs are looking for ways to improve productivity and lower IT costs. Drobo streamlines VMware-virtualized storage for SMBs by delivering storage that is simple, scalable and automated – all with an affordable price tag."
With more than 150,000 customers worldwide, Drobo has been embraced by individual professionals and small businesses globally. The new Drobo business systems up the ante with improved system performance and redundancy, a new business-oriented dashboard and control panel and upgraded business support options – all while maintaining Drobo's breakthrough ease-of-use and the BeyondRAIDTM data protection capabilities that define the Drobo brand.
"A complex quote, full of techno-babble and corporate speak, wouldn't represent Drobo fairly," said Mark Peters, senior analyst at Enterprise Strategy Group. "Now available for SMBs, Drobo is what it has always been – surprisingly advanced and scalable storage, packaged and priced for people who don't need to have doctorates or second mortgages to have easy, functional and sophisticated capabilities at their fingertips."
"Our customers aren't shy; they have tried Drobo for themselves and are now demanding more units for the rest of their business," said Tom Buiocchi, CEO at Drobo. "Our new Drobo for business family continues to meld even more big technology and Drobo ease-of-use for the best storage experience ever."
Today's announcement covers a new Drobo family of products designed with business in mind. These products include:
8-bay file sharing Drobo with remote backup (Available now)
8-bay SAN (iSCSI-attached) Drobo (Available now)
12-bay SAN (iSCSI-attached) Drobo with expanded redundancy features, support for thin provisioning and deprovisioning and new data-aware tiering technology (Reserve now, shipping Q2-11)
Drobo's new business line also includes performance enhancements, new management software and extended business support and services, in addition to the existing ease of use, affordable capacity and storage features that set Drobo apart from any other storage product on the market. The systems are based on the patented BeyondRAIDTM technology and are certified for VMware, Citrix, Microsoft Exchange and Symantec backup. Prices start just above $2K. The new line of business products is available for purchase at http://www.Drobo.com.
Drobo also announced its new Business Premier partner program and customer milestone of 150,000 sold. Both press releases can be accessed online at http://www.drobo.com/news/press_releases.
About Drobo
Drobo makes award-winning data storage products for Small and Medium Businesses and Individual professionals that provide an unprecedented combination of sophisticated data protection and management features, affordable capacity, and ease-of-use. Based on the patented and proven BeyondRAIDTM technology, Drobo's ability to deliver "Big Storage in a Small Box" creates the best storage experience ever for small and medium businesses and hundreds of thousands of individual professionals worldwide, who use it to support their file backup and media archiving, server virtualization, and email application needs. To learn more, visit http://www.drobo.com or follow us on Twitter @drobo.