Review: Drobo hard disk

Drobo is an external hard disk with a difference. Whereas most such devices come with just one disk inside, this one has room for four hard disks, although it doesn't actually come with any installed, so that's an extra cost to bear in mind.

It's designed to offer backup as well as just storage, so that you can copy files to it and not have to worry about data security.

Since its launch in the USA it's been very popular with photographers there who like the ability to quickly archive images. It's suitable for home users too, although the price is on the high side.

The Drobo is easy to set up - we just plugged it into the PC and it recognised the device as a disk. You have to put at least one disk in, of course, but that's easily done. The front of the case slides off easily and disks can then be slid into place.

There are several lights that indicate the health of the disks and whether they're being used. If a disk fails, its light goes red, and you can simply swap a new one in. The Drobo will then copy everything over to the new disk so it all remains backed-up properly.

We got pretty good data transfer speeds, even faster than a standard USB hard disk, and the device was unfazed even when we unplugged one of the disks as it was being used (that's not to be recommended, though). It's an expensive backup device, but if your data is worth keeping, this is an excellent way to keep it.

Vista compatible: Yes