SD + Drobo

[Sigi]

Hello,

I run an Apple Imac with 500 GB on Tiger + an external firewire hard drive with 160 GB for back up - which is now completely full. I just bought a Drobo and I am in the process of downloading SD. As I am not really a computer expert I have some questions. I would like to:

1. use the Drobo for backing up all my data, should not be a problem I guess
2. use the 160 GB drive as a bootable backup

Now my questions:

1. Should I partition my internal harddrive and whats the best way to do that
2. In case I partition should I just have my OS on partition one or OS + apps
3. I understood that SD can help to make a bootable backup - correct?

Thanks for any help and advice.

Sigi

[dnanian]

I don't see how you're going to use the 160GB drive for a backup if it's completely full: you'd be copying your source (500GB) drive to it, right?

And, no -- no need to partition the internal drive.

[Sigi]

Hello Dave,

sorry the the confusion. I will backup all my pictures, music etc.. to the Drobo (2 x 750 GB)
In addition to that I want to make a bootable backup of my 160 GB drive (I checked that it actually can be used to boot OS X). I assume that I only need the OS on this drive hence my questions above

Sigi

[dnanian]

I'm sorry, I'm still confused. What is the 160GB drive? I thought it was a backup. Is this an internal drive?

Is your 500GB completely full, and you're planning on moving that data to the Drobo? Or are you trying to back up the data on the 500GB to the Drobo?

How many partitions do you have on the source -- in other words, how many 'volumes' are you actually trying to back up here?

[Sigi]

Hello Dave,

1. My internal 500 GB drive is not partitioned, it has only one volume
2. The internal drive has still lots of space
3. I have used the external 160 GB drive for backup of data files only (pictures, music and documents) as I have now about 190 GB of pictures etc... I needed to upgrade. I bought a Drobo with 2x750 GB drives.
4. Support from Drobo told me that Drobos are not a good idea for a bootable backup so I thought that I use my 160 GB drive exclusivly for that.
4. I do not have have backup for OS or apps right now - which I want to change

Sigi

[dnanian]

Did they indicate why they thought the Drobo wasn't a good idea for bootable backups? It should work fine (and they've even communicated with me about it)...

It's really not a good idea to separate the backups the way you're thinking of doing it. I mean, you can back up everything but the pictures, music and documents to the 160, but I'd get a 500GB to back up to, and use the Drobo for 'archived' pictures, etc.

[Sigi]

Hello Dave,

if I do not have to use the 160 GB external drive at all even better because it is simpler. Are you saying that I can just use the Drobo for backing up everything and in case my internal HD fails I can reboot from the Drobo?

Thanks

Sigi

[dnanian]

If it's an Intel Mac, and you've properly partitioned the external as "GUID" (you can check in Disk Utility -- select the Drobo hardware, then look at the lower right side of the window), yes.

[Sigi]

Hello Dave,

thanks for this. I just checked in the user manual for the Drobo and it did not say anything about "GUID" but I have found it in Disk Utility.

Any other consequences that I have to be aware of if I partition the Drobo as "GUID"?

I assume that the drives that I use in the Drobo must support to boot OS X ?
I use - 2x Seagate ST3750640AS Barracuda 750GB 7200rpm 16MB 3.5zoll SATA

Thanks

Sigi

[dnanian]

No, no consequences that I can think of. The drives in the Drobo shouldn't really matter.

[Sigi]

Hello Dave,

I checked with Drobo regarding fully bootable and I got the following reply:

"Hello Sigi,

Thanks for contacting Drobo tech support. I'm sorry to inform you Drobo is not supported as a boot drive. It is FW so the Mac might give you this option. We just highly recommend against it.

Best Regards,
Drobo Tech Support - JB"

Based on that reply I am confused now what to do. What do you think?

Thanks

Sigi

[dnanian]

Which is very weird, especially since Drobo's own utilities indicate, when you update/install, that you don't need to "unplug Drobo if it's the startup drive".

[Sigi]

Hello Dave,

I would like to send the e-mail I have received from Drobo to you and cc "Drobo support". I would like to get a discussion started on this topic so that we can find out. Before I do so I want to check if that is ok with you.

Thanks

Sigi

[dnanian]

That's fine.