NAS device question.

[niceties55]

I am looking at getting this NAS device:

Mediasonic HF2-SU3S2 ProBox 4 Bay Hard Drive Enclosure with USB 3.0 & eSATA http://amzn.com/B003X26VV4

I had a couple of questions concerning this device!

1. Can I mix 4 different harddrives in this unit or do they all have to be the same?

And

2. How does compare to the more expensive drobo?

Thanks

 

[iPwn]

1. Can I mix 4 different harddrives in this unit or do they all have to be the same?

You can mix drives with resctrictions...
When you create RAID arrays, the drives don't necessarily have to be identical twins... you can mix a Western Digital 1TB with a Samsung 1TB as long as they are identical in the eyes of the controller. This typically comes down to heads, cylinders and sectors (used to calculate total space).

The short [typically true] answer is, as long as their size is identical, the controller will use them without issue.

Best practice is to get completely identical drives, but it's not required.

2. How does compare to the more expensive drobo?

Does it matter? (Serious question)

It all depends on what you're wanting this device for. If you're looking to build a redundant, speedy network access drive and nothing more, the above will suffice. If you're going to be running SQL database queries and hosting indexed tables and such, then the higher end one will provide more speed and probably better board logic. But again, look at the context in which its needed.

That's kind of like asking if you should run Cat5e or Cat6 in your home. Cat6 is technically way better, but unless you have a NOAA supercomputer cluster running on your internal network, you won't notice the difference.