Test Configuration
| System Hardware | |
|---|---|
| Processor(s) | 2x Intel Xeon Processor (Nocona core)3.6 GHz, FSB800, 1 MB L2 Cache |
| Platform | Asus NCL-DS (Socket 604)Intel E7520 Chipset, BIOS 1005 |
| RAM | Corsair CM72DD512AR-400 (DDR2-400 ECC, reg.)2x 512 MB, CL3-3-3-10 Timings |
| System Hard Drive | Western Digital Caviar WD1200JB120 GB, 7,200 rpm, 8 MB Cache, UltraATA/100 |
| Test Hard Drive I | Seagate Barracuda 7200.9 ST3500641500 GB, 7,200 rpm, 16 MB Cache, SATA/300 |
| Mass Storage Controller(s) | Intel 82801EB UltraATA/100 Controller (ICH5)Silicon Image SATALink SiL3512Driver 1.2.0.57Promise FastTrak TX4310Driver 2.06.1.310Promise SATA 300TX4Driver 1.0.0.33 |
| Networking | Broadcom BCM5721 On-Board Gigabit Ethernet NIC |
| Graphics Card | On-Board GraphicsATI RageXL, 8 MB |
| System Hardware | |
| Performance benchmarks | c’t h2benchw 3.6PCMark05 V1.01 |
| I/O Performance | IOMeter 2003.05.10Fileserver-BenchmarkWebserver-BenchmarkDatabase-BenchmarkWorkstation-Benchmark |
| System Software & Drivers | |
| OS | Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Enterprise EditionService Pack 1 |
| Platform Driver | Intel Chipset Installation Utility 7.0.0.1025 |
| Graphics Driver | Default Windows Graphics Driver |
Performance
We equipped Drobo with four different hard drives (80 GB, 160 GB, 320 GB, and 400 GB) for our test with HD Tach (version 3.0.1.0). We received average sequential transfer rates of 15.7 MB/s (read) and 11.0 MB/s (write). Compared to other USB storage devices, Drobo doesn’t convince with high performance. However, most external hard drives don’t come with data security features like Drobo does. The average access time was 27.7 ms, which puts our data robot on an NAS-device level. In practice, this means that users need a lot of time if they want to store 500 GB on Drobo. We still think that Drobo’s performance is acceptable after all. Different software, which is easy to install for users, is supposed to provide a performance increase, according to Data Robotics.
