Today, Drobo is shipping their newest model of protected storage device, the 5D3. It's a 5 bay enclosure that has two of the newest Thunderbolt 3 ports as well as a USBC port for desktop attached storage (DAS.) The 5D3, like all Drobos, is super easy to set up. Open the box, connect the 5D3 as shown in the quick start guide. Download and install the current version of Drobo Dashboard. Turn on the new 5D3. Drobo Dashboard updates the unit's firmware. Add at least two hard drives of any size and it's ready to go. What's new? The 5D3 has an … [Read more...] about Drobo’s Fast New Thunderbolt 3 Enclosure
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Photographers will eventually NEED a RAID System
When a hard drive fails, it can wreak havoc on your work day. Let me share with you how, in 2010, I built a reliable, cost-effective storage solution that grew over the years as I grew—saving me time and money. Redundant Array of Independent Disks (RAID) RAID sounds scary, but it’s just a way of configuring several hard drives together to act like one super hard drive. There are several different “levels” of RAID—each offering its own unique benefits. The good news: products such as Western Digital My Book, Synology and, of course, Drobo, … [Read more...] about Photographers will eventually NEED a RAID System
Protected Storage: How to Move from JBOD to RAID
Arguably, making the move from just a bunch of disks (JBOD) to a RAID like those I use from Drobo, is where to start? That's simple. Answer this question: How much storage will be needed to house the data on all of those drives? Label each drive with a number Determining the space required means finding out how much space has been used on each drive. Begin with some masking tape. Put a strip on each drive. Now, number them starting with 1. Next, grab a sheet of paper or if you prefer make a spread sheet. List the number of each drive on the … [Read more...] about Protected Storage: How to Move from JBOD to RAID
How Much Speed Does a Photographer Need
It's the age old question since we've started to shoot digital. How can I make my workflow faster? More efficient? Or more importantly, how can I get more free time and peace of mind? Well, here's where I hopefully can help out a little. I was lucky enough to get my hands on the DROBO 5D with a couple of Seagate 2TB SATA HDD's to do some long term testing for my photo and video production workflow...and the short answer to the question? As much as we can get our hands on! The Nitty Gritty / Tech Details The Drobo 5D is a USB3 and Dual … [Read more...] about How Much Speed Does a Photographer Need
Using a Drobo 5N to Allow Access to a Lightroom Catalog on Multiple Computers
More and more I hear from people who want to be able to use a single Lightroom catalog of the same photos on more than one computer (not surprising in 2016). While there isn’t a perfect solution (that I am aware of), there are some techniques worth investigating. Now, before I go further I have a caveat, which is that this is not a solution everyone needs, and Lightroom is still designed to work best for a single user with a single catalog on a single computer. That said, if you want to take a walk on the wild side, then let’s go … The most … [Read more...] about Using a Drobo 5N to Allow Access to a Lightroom Catalog on Multiple Computers
Drobo migration from Drobo to Drobo5D
Since I've gotten a Drobo, I have to say, I really enjoy it. It's nice having a user friendly RAID array of drives not just for the capacity they provide, but for the data protection they provide. In case you're wondering about more reasons why you'd want one, check out this previous Photofocus article here. So I've been dragging my feet on this for quite a while. I know I've needed to do it, but for fear of it being a "big deal" I've been putting off migrating and updating from my Drobo Generation 3 to my new Drobo 5D. "It's the busy … [Read more...] about Drobo migration from Drobo to Drobo5D
The Drobo 5C’s performance, from a budget conscious perspective.
There's a new box on the block! It is a whole lot more affordable and all of what we'd expect in terms of quality from Drobo. Bottom Line: The 5C is an affordable, super simple and easy to use, expandable, directly-attached storage device that can hold up to five 3.5" drives of various brands and capacities for computers that may or may not use USB-C. This magic black box is purposefully featuring a USB-C port for all those who are early adopters, but also features backward compatibility with USB 3.0 over USB-A as well as many other … [Read more...] about The Drobo 5C’s performance, from a budget conscious perspective.
Lightroom Live: Workflow Strategies for Multiple Computers with Mark Fuccio
You gotta join us live for our next Lightroom Live, totally free of charge. Not only will you learn terrific techniques, but if you tune in live, you can be entered to win excellent prizes to help you in your work. (Note: MUST BE TUNED IN LIVE TO WIN). We'll be giving away a copy of Perfectly Clear from Athentech. Plus you never know what else. We kick off Monday, November 7th at 1:00 pm Eastern, 12:00 pm Central, 11:00 am Mountain, and 10:00 am Pacific. 2:30 pm in Newfoundland. Check out the YouTube event here and it'll show your … [Read more...] about Lightroom Live: Workflow Strategies for Multiple Computers with Mark Fuccio
Repurposing Old Equipment: Hard Drives
In my first year of photography, I shot more than 100,000 pictures, which yielded two results: my photography got better quickly, and my computer's hard drive filled up with picture files. Over the last, I've bought several external hard drives to store and even backup my pictures. Eventually, I bought RAID systems to protect my photos. But these also filled up! Nowadays, I use Drobos to store and protect my pictures, and when drives fill up I can just swap them with a new bigger drive. But what should I do with all those old drives? They're … [Read more...] about Repurposing Old Equipment: Hard Drives
Lightroom Live: Workflow Strategies for Multiple Computers with Mark Fuccio
You gotta join us live for our next Lightroom Live, totally free of charge. Not only will you learn terrific techniques, but if you tune in live, you can be entered to win excellent prizes to help you in your work. (Note: MUST BE TUNED IN LIVE TO WIN). We'll be giving away a copy of Perfectly Clear from Athentech. Plus you never know what else. We kick off Monday, November 7th at 1:00 pm Eastern, 12:00 pm Central, 11:00 am Mountain, and 10:00 am Pacific. 2:30 pm in Newfoundland. Check out the YouTube event here and it'll show your … [Read more...] about Lightroom Live: Workflow Strategies for Multiple Computers with Mark Fuccio
Building a Bulletproof Backup
First, let's be clear. Bulletproof is not Fail Safe. In the real world of shooting with guns, bulletproof doesn't exist. The term is "bullet resistant." The idea behind the "bulletproof" vest is to give the person wearing it a chance to survive what would be an otherwise fatal encounter. Photographs and the rest of our digital media want as bullet resistant backup system as feasible. There are two primary factors that weigh in on just how bulletproof our backup workflow is--time and money. Time & Money Creating a backup workflow must … [Read more...] about Building a Bulletproof Backup
Don’t Miss Today’s Free Webinar: Never Lose a Photo When You’re Traveling
A reminder, we've got a great free webinar today all about traveling and taking pictures. You can watch the event for free live (and ask questions) or just bookmark this post and watch the replay. When: Today, Tuesday, October 11, 2016 at 2:00 pm ET | 11:00 am PT Where: Visit this page to sign in to view (or watch the video below). You must be present to win and ask questions. Why: To learn how to travel safe and never lose a picture or video again. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m5t9nO3lf7s A Mobile Storage Workflow for … [Read more...] about Don’t Miss Today’s Free Webinar: Never Lose a Photo When You’re Traveling
Never Lose a Photo When You’re Traveling
Taking your camera on the road can add all sorts of extra challenges. Being away from home or office leads to all sorts of bad backups, putting your pictures at risk. In this free webinar we tackle how to keep your images safe when you're on the road. Would you like to NEVER lose a photo again? It's possible if you join us for our next webinar.We'll tackle a whole bunch of important topics whether you travel for work or pleasure. A Mobile Storage Workflow for Photographers Join us for this month's hangout. We'll be tackling A Mobile … [Read more...] about Never Lose a Photo When You’re Traveling
Introducing the Drobo 5C
Drobo's newest entry into affordable, safe storage--the Drobo 5C is available today. What's new? Watch my interview with Drobo CEO Mihir Shah and Chief Technology Officer Rod Harrison as they present the new 5C. https://vimeo.com/185221618 Features The big news is the Drobo 5C adds another drive bay and it sports the ultra high speed USB C connector. USB C boasts Read performance of up to 241 megabytes per second (220MB/Sec average) and write speed up to 261 MB/sec (average 255 MB/Sec.) The 5C officially retires Drobo's venerable 4 bay … [Read more...] about Introducing the Drobo 5C
Mirroring Your Photo Library to a Second Drive and the Cloud
The process of backing up refers to the copying and archiving of computer data so it may be used to restore the original after a data-loss event. Having a backup system in place can provide peace of mind; however that peacefulness will be short lived if you have chosen the wrong backup setting. Choosing between Syncing, Mirroring, Copying and Full Backup can become confusing since they are all considered a form of backup—each offering unique benefits. Using mirroring as the backup option, here’s an easy-to-understand solution to keep your photo … [Read more...] about Mirroring Your Photo Library to a Second Drive and the Cloud
Drobo Webinar Why Safe Storage is Good Business for Photographers
Now available on YouTube, Photofocus publisher, Rich Harrington hosts Mark Fuccio, VP of Product Development at Drobo and me, photographer and Photofocus author, Kevin Ames in a lively discussion about the business of safe storage and the challenges photographers and videographers face in managing terabytes of images. Discussion points They begin with an explanation of "Safe Storage" using a working drive and multiple copies as backups. Backup strategies and software are talked about as well as how a Drobo differs from Just A Bunch of Disks … [Read more...] about Drobo Webinar Why Safe Storage is Good Business for Photographers
Fixing Three Common Workflow Problems with the Drobo 5N
Well… It’s a pretty exciting day here at SharkPixel and Washington DC Headshots. I am finally upgrading my storage “situation” thanks to the amazing people over at Drobo. John Harrington once told me, there are two types of photographers in this world; people who have had a drive fail and people that will. So when I was asked to review the set-up process as a person who was completely unfamiliar with any of Drobo’s products previously in exchange for a Drobo 5N unit, I jumped at the opportunity. In this article, you’ll see how the Drobo 5N … [Read more...] about Fixing Three Common Workflow Problems with the Drobo 5N
Free Webinar: Why Safe Storage is Good Business for Photographers
Would you like to NEVER lose a photo again? It's possible if you join us for our next webinar. Our next webinar covers important strategies on how to keep your photos and video safe (especially if you make money off your images). This webinar will share practical advice for photographers and videographers from pros Kevin Ames and Rich Harrington. Also joining them is hard drive guru Mark Fuccio. Why Safe Storage is Good Business for Photographers Join us for this month's hangout. We'll be tackling Why Safe Storage is Good Business … [Read more...] about Free Webinar: Why Safe Storage is Good Business for Photographers
Drobo 5N User Review–It’ll Make You A Superhero
12You've probably had the experience of a client calling with an urgent need for a photo that you have in your image library (which, of course, is safely backed up using a Drobo or other RAID/NAS system). You'd be happy to help your client, but the picture is on the drive at the office, or at home, and you're traveling and won't be back for a week. Normally, you'd have to say, "I'm sorry, I can't help you until Monday." However, if you're using the Drobo 5N, you've got a solid way to help your client and solidify yourself as a superhero in … [Read more...] about Drobo 5N User Review–It’ll Make You A Superhero
All Hard Drives Eventually Fail – Are Your Precious Photos Protected?
It happened to me last weekend. I got an email from my Drobo 5D (ain’t technology grand?) alerting me that one of my Western Digital 3.0 TB Green Drives had failed. When I got to my office my Drobo was spinning away and the push notification informed me that Drobo was in the process of moving around and protecting my data and not to remove any drives until it was done. I was able to access all my files as usual during this process. I opened photos, edited them, saved them, etc. I did all that with no problem. While I had a hard drive fail, no … [Read more...] about All Hard Drives Eventually Fail – Are Your Precious Photos Protected?
Lightroom Live: 2 Minute Miracles with Nicolesy
You gotta join us live for our next Lightroom Live, totally free of charge. Not only will you learn terrific techniques, but if you tune in live, you can be entered to win excellent prizes to help you in your work. (Note: MUST BE TUNED IN LIVE TO WIN). We'll be giving away a copy of Perfectly Clear from Athentech. Plus you never know what else. We kick off Thursday, September 8th at 1:00 pm Eastern, 12:00 pm Central, 11:00 am Mountain, and 10:00 am Pacific. 2:30 pm in Newfoundland. Check out the YouTube event here and it'll show your … [Read more...] about Lightroom Live: 2 Minute Miracles with Nicolesy
Lightroom Live: 2 Minute Miracles with Nicolesy
You gotta join us live for our next Lightroom Live, totally free of charge. Not only will you learn terrific techniques, but if you tune in live, you can be entered to win excellent prizes to help you in your work. (Note: MUST BE TUNED IN LIVE TO WIN). We'll be giving away a copy of Perfectly Clear from Athentech. Plus you never know what else. We kick off Thursday, September 8th at 1:00 pm Eastern, 12:00 pm Central, 11:00 am Mountain, and 10:00 am Pacific. 2:30 pm in Newfoundland. Check out the YouTube event here and it'll show your … [Read more...] about Lightroom Live: 2 Minute Miracles with Nicolesy
Restoring My MacBook Pro Back to Life With The Drobo 5N
Having a backup plan for your data is great, but the real test comes when you have to actually restore your information from that backup in the unfortunate event of a computer failure. That test came for me a few weeks ago, when my 2012, 15 inch MacBook Pro completely froze on me one morning. I did a hard restart via the power button, but soon discovered (to my complete and utter horror) that the computer could no longer complete the booting process. No matter how many times I tried to restart, it could not get even 50% through the progress … [Read more...] about Restoring My MacBook Pro Back to Life With The Drobo 5N
The InFocus Interview Show | Photofocus Podcast August 21st, 2016
https://soundcloud.com/photofocus/infocus-show-8212016 With your new host Rod Harlan. In this episode Scott Bourne interviews Trey Radcliff about a new line of camera bags, some new AuroraHDR News, and a bit about the History of Art. Then Levi Sim interviews Matt Kloskowski about HDR and bracketing, combined with using the power of modern cameras to help you be more creative. Finally, we have Kevin Ames interviewing Drobo CTO Rod Harrison about the new line of Drobo models, the history of the company, and the difference between … [Read more...] about The InFocus Interview Show | Photofocus Podcast August 21st, 2016
Free webinar: 3-2-1 Backup (NEVER lose a photo again)
Would you like to NEVER lose a photo again? It's possible if you join us for our next webinar. It's hard to put a price tag on years of memories you captured on camera. If you sell your images, it's even more important. How much would I lose if you lost everything on your hard drive? The solution here is the 3-2-1 Backup Concept Create three copies of your files Store on two different media Keep one backup copy offsite. 3-2-1 Backup | A Storage Workflow Hangout Join us for this month's hangout. We'll be … [Read more...] about Free webinar: 3-2-1 Backup (NEVER lose a photo again)
Two Simple Ways to Protect Photos on Travels
Photographing while travelling is a joy, and you'll make many of your best pictures when you're visiting somewhere new and are inspired by the culture and events. You may also have the opportunity to travel and shoot for clients. Either way, you need to make sure you get your photos home and keep them safe along the way. Here are some ideas to help you get it done without a big hassle. Keep It Simple There are volumes written on data management and backup, and you should read those. The most important thing about data management is keeping … [Read more...] about Two Simple Ways to Protect Photos on Travels
Installing & Using DroboPix Tutorial
DroboPix is a brand new app for iOS that makes uploading iPhone and iPad photos automatically when either device comes inside a preset location. If you have a Drobo 5N or B810n attached to your network, you have everything you'll need to take control of the immense library of photos stored on your iPhone or iPad. While those devices now sport storage up to 128 gigabytes for iPhone or 256 gigabytes on iPad, photos and videos can quickly eat up a huge amount of space on our devices. Having a system that seamlessly uploads copy to protected … [Read more...] about Installing & Using DroboPix Tutorial
Lightroom Hangout: Lies Cameras Tell Part II
You gotta join us live for our next Google+ Hangout, totally free of charge. Not only will you learn terrific techniques, but if you tune in live, you can be entered to win excellent prizes to help you in your work. (Note: MUST BE TUNED IN LIVE TO WIN). We'll be giving away a copy of Perfectly Clear from Athentech. Plus you never know what else. We kick off Monday, August 1st at 2:00 pm Eastern, 1:00 pm Central, 12:00 am Mountain, and 11:00 am Pacific. 3:30 pm in Newfoundland. RSVP here and it'll show your local time. This … [Read more...] about Lightroom Hangout: Lies Cameras Tell Part II
Lightroom Hangout: Lies Cameras Tell Part II
You gotta join us live for our next Google+ Hangout, totally free of charge. Not only will you learn terrific techniques, but if you tune in live, you can be entered to win excellent prizes to help you in your work. (Note: MUST BE TUNED IN LIVE TO WIN). We'll be giving away a copy of Perfectly Clear from Athentech. Plus you never know what else. We kick off Monday, August 1st at 2:00 pm Eastern, 1:00 pm Central, 12:00 am Mountain, and 11:00 am Pacific. 3:30 pm in Newfoundland. RSVP here and it'll show your local time. This … [Read more...] about Lightroom Hangout: Lies Cameras Tell Part II
Drobo 5D: Solving My Storage Problems
I plugged in my first-ever Drobo unit a few weeks ago. I realized my computer was out of hard drive space yet again and it just made sense to store my photography working files on the Drobo 5D. The transition to the Drobo was seamless. Now that I have been up and running for a while I keep asking myself, “Why did I wait this long” to get a Drobo?" I do not like to change equipment or software. My experience is that something always goes haywire and I spend way too much time talking to Technical Support from whatever company I bought my … [Read more...] about Drobo 5D: Solving My Storage Problems
