Drobo FS vs HP MediaSmart

Skills software and technology
1

I am hoping someone can help me out here.

I need to upgrade my external storage at my house. I am debating on either getting an HP Mediasmart Server or a Drobo FS.

Drobo FS

HP Mediasmart
http://www.hp.com/united-states/campaigns/mediasmart-server/index.html

My basic needs are:

  • Storage that is protected if a drive fails.
  • Easily Upgradable Storage
  • Ability to share/access files over a network.
  • Remotely access files when away from home.
  • Serve media files to a few computers and my xbox 360.

I do some freelance rendering and design work out of my house and I really need to have a better backup solution. I use an online backup service for now but I really want to have something in my home along with the online option.

Does anyone have experience using these machines in a freelance environment? I do some networked rendering but not really all that much.

Thanks for any suggestions or help.

2

The Drobo stuff looks pretty good - we just use a generic RAID box with 4 1TB drives hooked up to a server.