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| Aaargh - DROBO! | Rate Topic |
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| Posted by Constable: Sat Feb 2nd, 2013 12:10 | 1st Post |
| Something happened to me today that has had me tearing my hair out - probably because I did not do the correct diagnostics first. My Drobo went down in the sense that the connection to the Mac could not be made. The Drobo is connected directly to the Mac Pro by ethernet. i spent a happy couple of hours playing with the software end, my firewall settings, setting up the Drobo on another computer ... it worked with a firewire connection but not ethernet. So I then did what I should have done previously and checked the ethernet cable. I have never had an ethernet cable go bad on me before (connecters yes, but they were OK). But on this occasion that was the problem. i probably learnt something, but I don't know what. Anyway, the moral is always check your cables if the obvious things fail. Ed
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| Posted by Robert: Sat Feb 2nd, 2013 14:23 | 2nd Post |
| Good you got it sorted Ed, sometimes the obvious isn't quite so obvious when you are right next to it.
____________________ Robert. |
| Posted by jk: Sat Feb 2nd, 2013 14:55 | 3rd Post |
| I use my Drobo with USbB connection but I really should network it. Glad you sorted out the problem Ed as these can be very tricky sometimes.
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| Posted by Bob Bowen: Sun Feb 3rd, 2013 06:56 | 4th Post |
| My current single time machine back up drive is starting to play up. Do you guys think Drobo is a good reliable way to go with Thunderbolt from my Mac Mini. Wondering about the encryption they use locking one into the system if the drive unit fails.:baffled:
____________________ Bob Bowen |
| Posted by Constable: Sun Feb 3rd, 2013 07:49 | 5th Post |
| Hi Bob The risk is not zero. Having said that, I have successfully swapped a failing drive in the DROBO RAId system with no difficulties. I must confess that I am paranoid about data and have triple redundancy with wireless drives as well. There are nightmare stories on the web tho' Ed
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| Posted by jk: Sun Feb 3rd, 2013 15:12 | 6th Post |
| Any technology you choose has weaknesses and strengths. It is really only a question of which you feel most comfortable with! I use an 8 drive Drobo unit. I also have a 4 drive unit for critical data.
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| Posted by Doug: Mon Feb 4th, 2013 06:34 | 7th Post |
| I wouldn't touch drobo. I never liked the idea of a proprietary version of raid and have heard many horror stories - not least from Scott Kelby http://scottkelby.com/2012/im-done-with-drobo/ How much data do you have?
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| Posted by jk: Mon Feb 4th, 2013 08:29 | 8th Post |
| Read the Scott Kelby problem. The problem is that everyone is scrambling to make a product that gives best cover and ease of use so it is all proprietary. If it works then it works then if it doesnt work it is a disaster. Scott Kelby has industrial needs and really should be using similarly costed products. Drobo, Thecus, Buffalo are the expensive end of end consumer products. I have use Buffalo stuff in the past and similar problems exist also their technology is not so flexible. I cant afford the next step up as this requires $£â‚¬10000 or more to start. To answer your question currently I have Music ~1TB Video ~2TB Programs ~3TB Images since 2000 ~2TB Scanned images prior to 2000 (work incomplete) estimated ~4TB So 16TB is OK. Using individual disks (USB/Firewire attached) is not an option as I dont want the spaghetti this generates and also it means I need to double up to replicate each disk. I dont like using disks larger than 2TB as they are bigger risk (1TB disks are easy to handle but getting less easy to source).
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| Posted by Bob Bowen: Mon Feb 4th, 2013 10:01 | 9th Post |
| Good points JK. My worry was the proprietary aspect aspect if the enclosure went down which was Kelby's problem I think. So if one wanted to change in the future everything stored on Drobo HD's was locked in. From what you say am I correct in assuming all raid type systems may have similar restrictions. I have a number of colleagues who swear by Drobo as a no brainer raid solution. Had looked at the Pegasus systems in the Mac store as they were early Thunderbolt solutions but pricy. No more that Drobo in reality once populated though.
____________________ Bob Bowen |
| Posted by jk: Mon Feb 4th, 2013 11:26 | 10th Post |
| Yes the Thunderbolt solutions look very nice and transfer rate is great but like everything you need to have a chain of all the latest technology to achieve the fantastic speeds. I chose Drobo in spite of Scot Kelby's problems. I read the article where he was complaining before I purchased. I think he was using the small 4 drive unit Drobo FS units from Generation 1. The current units are Generation 3 so purchasing them should be OK.
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| Posted by Bob Bowen: Mon Feb 4th, 2013 11:56 | 11th Post |
| Thanks JK. I'm leaning the Drobo way. Still battling with Adobe help lines trying to install CS6 on my MM sever with 10.8.2. Will load on my Macbook Pro but installer stalls on the MM. 5 hours on help line so far and no answer.
____________________ Bob Bowen |
| Posted by jk: Mon Feb 4th, 2013 13:10 | 12th Post |
Bob Bowen wrote: Thanks JK. I'm leaning the Drobo way. Still battling with Adobe help lines trying to install CS6 on my MM sever with 10.8.2. Will load on my Macbook Pro but installer stalls on the MM. 5 hours on help line so far and no answer. Seems like a common issue with OSX 10.8.2 and Adobe CS6 suite products. http://forums.adobe.com/message/4912201 This link gives hints.... It is a Java issue as it has been disabled in OSX 10.8.2 https://discussions.apple.com/thread/4716826?start=0&tstart=0 I suggest that you install from here. http://jdk7.java.net/download.html Then try your install of CS6. If you are worried about the Java security issue which I believe is resolved in Java 7 then you should then be able to uninstall it but your updates for CS6 suite wont work.
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| Posted by jk: Mon Feb 4th, 2013 13:12 | 13th Post |
| Re the Drobo stuff. Maybe Ed Constable can give you his opinion on the kit as he has been a user for longer than me.
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| Posted by Constable: Mon Feb 4th, 2013 15:47 | 14th Post |
| Bob I give Drobo a cautious thumbs up. It works like it says on the can most of the time. There are issues with Os X 10.8. In particular, when the thing goes into standby mode you usually have to restart your desktop (at least if it is connected by ethernet). The firewire connection is fast and I guess the next generation with thunderbolt will be fantastic. The RAID implementation is robuts and I have swapped out one drive without incident. Support is minimal although they have a pretty good website. I have an eight drive unit loaded with 2Tb drives. I agree with JK about not using bigger drives. I was thinking about daisychaining a couple of Promise Pegasus R4 16 TB Raid 5/6 4x4 TB units but will now be saving my pennies for a D4x in the Fall 
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| Posted by Bob Bowen: Tue Feb 5th, 2013 06:00 | 15th Post |
| Thanks JK I'll give it a try. Odd thing is CS6 installer will run on my Macbook Pro on 10.8.2 but not on MM server.
____________________ Bob Bowen |
| Posted by Bob Bowen: Tue Feb 5th, 2013 06:08 | 16th Post |
| Java 7 installed but still no joy. Waiting for call back form Adobe support having escalated the problem with them.
____________________ Bob Bowen |
| Posted by Robert: Tue Feb 5th, 2013 06:26 | 17th Post |
| Apple have enabled and disabled Java several times very recently, reacting to security issues as they are discovered in Java. When the security issue is patched, Apple lift the block. Then another is uncovered, Apple block Java again, and so on. It all happens in the background. All I can say is make sure you have the latest updates of the OS and Java. While this can be a real pain and is causing many problems, I have seen it this last weekend as the boys wanted to play some games, not only with 10.8.2 but also on earlier Macs; at least Apple are being proactive in disabling software which has security issues. One possibility that may not be perfect but would probably solve the issue would be to clear the second drive in your server and install a new clean OS, then install Cs6 and then migrate all your other stuff from the first drive to the second (sort of 'leapfrogging'). I am assuming you are using an i7 Mac mini with two 500Gb drives. That would clear any doubt about there being any hidden 'stuff' messing with your installation. Alt, depending on what you have on the server, wipe and zero the drive and have a fresh start, there could be something lurking which is messing with your installation.
____________________ Robert. |
| Posted by Bob Bowen: Tue Feb 5th, 2013 07:39 | 18th Post |
| I was begining to think along those lines Robert that something was hidden somewhere - maybe when I migrated stuff from my G5 tower to the MM. The fact that the Macbook was OK and an older MM that I use linked to my TV for catch up viewing etc would run the installer. I have the space as the MM server has two 750gb drives.
____________________ Bob Bowen |
| Posted by Robert: Tue Feb 5th, 2013 08:29 | 19th Post |
| Bob, you may know this already but just in case. If you re-start the Mac mini holding down the option (alt) key it will give you the option to select the recovery drive (if you have a wireless mouse you may need to navigate with the curser keys). That gives you access to the Apple servers to download a complete new OS appropriate for your computer, with the server, I think you get the opportunity to select which drive it's installed on. It's a very slow download depending on your connection. I did mine over night on the rare occasions it has been needed. (I totally screwed the OS on my server within a a day or so of getting it! LOL) I am not sure exactly which OS it will load, probably the one the computer had on day one when it was new, it will then of course need to go through the updates which will be in the Mac App Store purchases and updates. Good luck, if you have further issues come back and tell us.
____________________ Robert. |
| Posted by Bob Bowen: Tue Feb 5th, 2013 10:26 | 20th Post |
Thanks Robert you are a star. When I downloaded 10.8.2 I made a bootable copy on a USB drive. Installed 10.8.2 on the second drive in the MMS as you suggested and then CS6 installed with no problems showing that there was a conflict on the first drive. Now I need to decided what to migrate and what is the best way to do it.
____________________ Bob Bowen |
| Posted by Robert: Tue Feb 5th, 2013 10:50 | 21st Post |
| Excellent news Bob, well done. I would NOT *move* any software at all. Instead re install it from original source, I know that sounds like making hard work but that is the sort of thing which creates conflicts. Migrate bookmarks and eMails, stuff like that and of course any local data, but NOT applications, even small ones, and don't be tempted to let the Apple migration software move the applications either, I have in the past and regretted it. Far better with a clean fresh install from original source.
____________________ Robert. |
| Posted by Bob Bowen: Tue Feb 5th, 2013 11:07 | 22nd Post |
| Good advice Robert. I think moving applications was part, if not all of the problem. Still not sure how other Adobe products e.g. LR4 and Elements 11 let me install but not CS6
____________________ Bob Bowen |
| Posted by jk: Tue Feb 5th, 2013 11:10 | 23rd Post |
Bob Bowen wrote: Thanks Robert you are a star. When I downloaded 10.8.2 I made a bootable copy on a USB drive. Installed 10.8.2 on the second drive in the MMS as you suggested and then CS6 installed with no problems showing that there was a conflict on the first drive. Now I need to decided what to migrate and what is the best way to do it.Well done. I hate having to reload OS which is why I use Mac OSX as Windows in any form is too unstable after a year and needs refreshing. My Macbook Pro 15" is running the same OSX Snow Leopard as it arrived with in 2007.  I have found the easiest way to make the migration decisions is to move all the data across then to format the old drive. This forces you to do a clean install on the new drive as and when you need a piece of software.
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| Posted by Bob Bowen: Tue Feb 5th, 2013 11:10 | 24th Post |
| Incidently I seem to be able to launch CS6 located on the second drive when using the first hard drive as my start up drive.
____________________ Bob Bowen |
| Posted by Robert: Tue Feb 5th, 2013 11:21 | 25th Post |
| Not a big surprise but be careful, you might upset it because it uses the system resources and it may now only want to play with the other OS. I would only launch Cs6 with the same OS that it shares the drive with.
____________________ Robert. |
| Posted by Bob Bowen: Tue Feb 5th, 2013 11:49 | 26th Post |
| Prudence is my watchword. I know from the last few weeks how sensitive CS6 can be. I will copy over data and clean install apps as I need. Presume it would be OK to restore e-mails etc from time machine.
____________________ Bob Bowen |
| Posted by Robert: Tue Feb 5th, 2013 12:02 | 27th Post |
| Yes that should be OK, If you are using cloud eMail then they should appear anyway. All your bookmarks and stuff should re-appear automatically. You may need to go into cloud pref's and activate some parts of them they seem to need that sometimes when you do an install.
____________________ Robert. |
| Posted by jk: Tue Feb 5th, 2013 16:55 | 28th Post |
Robert wrote: Yes that should be OK, If you are using cloud eMail then they should appear anyway. All your bookmarks and stuff should re-appear automatically.Dont talk to me about iCloud. I just updated my iPad to iOS 6.1. Now my Address Book on my Mac wont sync properly with my iPad as it thinks it has to do it via iCloud ratehr than directly. Grrrrr. They really need to live in the real world not in some super connected terabit network on Apple campus. Just leave the stuff when it works, add features but DONT disable working stuff..
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| Posted by Constable: Tue Feb 5th, 2013 17:20 | 29th Post |
| Hi JKJ Can I be a smug git? I noticed just before automatically saying yes that I was being asked if I wanted to migrate my address book and contacts to the cloud .. i said no. Let me know if you find a way to get them back .. I know other people with this problem. Ed
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| Posted by Robert: Tue Feb 5th, 2013 17:38 | 30th Post |
| Whops... Well I just sent my accounts data to the iCloud... Backed it up to !!!!!!!!!!!!!! A lump of plaster just fell on the desk? Frightened the daylights out of me/ I have been installing insulation on the walls all day, may have something to do with that. Unless it was the iCloud?
____________________ Robert. |
| Posted by jk: Wed Feb 6th, 2013 07:48 | 31st Post |
Robert wrote: Whops...Probably the iCloud falling apart. Should be a tornado then it sucks everything into it!! 
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| Posted by Doug: Thu Feb 7th, 2013 09:38 | 32nd Post |
jk wrote:. So what about something like this - configured as separate drives. Wouldn't the drives then be separate without the spaghetti? http://www.electronista.com/articles/13/02/06/raid.rack.fits.four.drives.in.1u.tower.fits.five.in.portable.stack/
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| Posted by jk: Thu Feb 7th, 2013 11:25 | 33rd Post |
| That units looks fine Doug but it only holds 4 drives. My Drobo holds 8 and allows me to adds on the fly. RAID arrays usually require a rebuild on addition of a new drives unless it is a hot spare. This Addonics unit is RAID so I guess the same applies. I used Addonics stuff in the past and it was good.
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| Posted by Bob Bowen: Mon Feb 11th, 2013 05:49 | 34th Post |
| A final update on my CS6 installation saga. Having got CS6 up and running on my second drive with a new OS I looked at the old drive and pondered where the conflicts were. Thinking it may be from other Adobe products- CS3 LR4 and Elements11 - I uninstalled all Adobe bits on the old drive and hey presto CS6 would install. Reinstalled LR4 and am now a happy bunny. Now back to where I started thinking about Drobo's and my back up needs which are really archival rather than current projects in my retirement. Maybe a new external HD would suffice to replace the one that is starting to groan at startup.:baffled:
____________________ Bob Bowen |
| Posted by Robert: Mon Feb 11th, 2013 08:12 | 35th Post |
| Hi Bob, Good you have sorted AND found an explanation for the Cs6 installation issue. Most of my computers have second partitions with backup OS's on. It gives me a fallback and also on some of them the ability to run Snow Leopard or earlier for the occasions I need to run 'obsolete' applications like MS Office 2003, a CAD application I have and also the ability on the earlier versions of Mail to bounce eMails, a very useful feature which despite protests, Apple have now dropped. Regarding storage, I faced a similar dilemma a while back, I separated my files into types. Backups of all my floppy disks, CD's and DVD's, together with every file I have from previous systems. That lot went onto one 500Gb drive and I call it my "Archive Drive". Everything inc. research links, Word and other text files, all image files and documents connected with the book on another drive called "Botanic". Two 1Tb drives which I alternate for my current use Time Machine" which gives me a backup and 'rewind' of my current data. I swap these drive with one usually at another location. A 1 Tb RAID 0 drive which is my day to day data drive where all my current data is kept. The RAID 0 is for speed, two 500Gb drives interleaved for speed. So I only keep active data on my day to day drive and all my infrequently used data is on separate drives and only a click of a switch away. Everything is also backed up onto other drives and and the original disks are stored safely. I would say I have everything at least three times and some stuff many more than that. Personally I wouldn't store any critical data on a proprietary system without very secure backup. The chances of recovering data from a disk crash in an array would be low and expensive.
____________________ Robert. |
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