While you can use the Windows Disk Management Utility to format the volumes on your Drobo storage device, you cannot change the size of the volume(s) or manage the volumes on your device (DroboPro and DroboElite only). Because of this, it is recommended that you use Drobo Dashboard to format volumes. The following instructions apply to formatting Drobo volumes using the Windows Disk Management Utility.
Right click on My Computer, and then select Manage to display the Computer Management Window.
Click Disk Management. On the right-side of the console, the formatted and unformatted disks are displayed. Drobo should appear at the bottom of the console with the following characteristics: Unknown, 2048 GB, and Not Initialized.
Right-click on the disk described in Step 2. Select Initialize Disk.
Windows automatically launches the Initialize Disk Wizard. Click OK.
Drobo is now initialized and appears in the Computer Management Console. The disk status has changed from Unknown to Basic and from Not Initialized to Online, but the disk space will still appear as Unallocated.
Identify
the disk described as 2048 GB Unallocated.
This is a critical step
so you don’t accidentally format the wrong disk!
Next, you'll format the disk. Right-click in the area where it says Unallocated to open a popup menu and select New Partition.
The New Partition Wizard will launch. Click Next.
The Select Partition Type Options is displayed. The Primary partition is pre-selected; extended partitions are not supported. Click Next to continue.
The Specify Partition Size Window is displayed. Select the size for the partition and click Next.
The Assign Drive Letter or Path Window appears. Select the drive letter you want assigned to this partition in Drobo. Windows automatically displays the next available drive letter (in this example, with one partition, it is E). Click Next.
The Format Partition Window will appear. Use the following settings to format each partition:
Note: If you choose to format your drives as a FAT32 file system, then for optimal performance, Data Robotics recommends you use Drobo Dashboard to format your drives. For instructions, see Formatting Drives using the Drobo Dashboard located earlier in this help topic. Extended and multiple partitions are not supported at this time.
Default as the Allocation unit size.
Enter the volume label of your choice. For example, you could name it Drobo.
Tip: If you don't select a quick format, the format operation could take as long as a few hours to complete.
Click Next.
The final window of the wizard appears. Click Finish to start formatting the drive.
Windows automatically displays the Computer Management Console while the formatting is in progress.
Disk formatting will vary depending on the speed of your system and whether or not you had selected Perform a Quick Format in a previous step. When the formatting is complete, Windows displays the drive as "Healthy" in the Computer Management Console.
Drobo is formatted and ready to use.
Formatting Drives Using Drobo Dashboard
My PC Says Drobo Has More Capacity Than It Actually Does
Starting Drobo Dashboard