Sharing Drobo Between Computers

There are several ways to share your Drobo between multiple computers.

Using DroboShare (1st and 2nd Generation Drobo Only)

Drobo connects directly to one computer at a time via the provided USB 2.0 or FireWire 800 cable. However, you may have a need to share your Drobo across your network. This is easily done using DroboShare, a unique companion to Drobo. Using Drobo with DroboShare, computers will “see” Drobo in their list of network devices, which allows for centralized storage or easy file sharing between computers. This unique design allows Drobo to be either directly attached to your Mac or PC or shared over the network depending on your needs.

If you have specific network requirements, such as using static IP addresses in your network, Drobo Dashboard provides you with the ability to configure DroboShare to fit your unique network design. To access this, launch Drobo Dashboard and click the Setup button in Advanced Controls -> Tools in the DroboShare section.

Note: Drobo S, Drobo FS, DroboPro and DroboElite are not compatible with DroboShare.

Using Drobo FS

Drobo FS was designed for a network. You do not have to worry about file system format or volume size.

Move a Drobo storage device between computers

You can also pick a file system format for the volumes on your Drobo device that are supported by multiple operating systems (e.g., Mac OS X, Windows, and Linux). The “FAT32” format option in the Drobo Dashboard ensures that Macs, PCs, and Linux machines will be able to read and write data on the Drobo unit.

Note: Only use FAT32 if you need to move your Drobo device between operating systems. FAT32 is an older file system technology that is generally less protective of your data than modern (journaled) file systems such as HFS+ or NTFS. FAT32 also has some performance and file size limitations.

Using your Computer

Both Mac OS X and Windows-based computers have built in file sharing capabilities. You can use these to share your Drobo storage device with other computers on your network. The one drawback is that the computer which is sharing the Drobo device must be turned on, in order for others to get access to the Drobo files and folders.

To find out more about using your computers file sharing capabilities, consult your operating system’s documentation.