[OT] Does a multi-drive USB external hard disk rack exist?

[Steven Susbauer]

On 9/5/2010 8:51 PM, Michael Haney wrote:
> There is also the Drobo.  They work for Windows, Mac and Linux.  I do
> believe they work via USB 2.0, I think also eSATA, and some models do
> work via iSCSI (which requires Gigabit Ethernet).  Essentially they're
> Zero Configuration RAID external storage.  Put 4 or 6 drives in them
> of equal size and it will automatically do RAID with backup.  Every
> other drive will be a backup of the one before.  The drives are
> hot-swappable so if one dies you can remove one and the other will
> come online instantly to replace it without interruption.  Put a new
> drive of the same size in and the data from the backup will be
> automatically restored to the new drive.  Its pretty much automatic.
>
> Leo Laporte from This Week in Tech swears by them actually owns one.
> I think its the six disk Drobo he has.
>
> http://www.drobo.com/
>

The Drobo is very nice and would make an excellent storage solution, 
however the price is a bit steep with the cheapest (4 bay with FireWire 
800 or USB 2.0) being around $400 (or $200 on ebay). The iSCSI versions 
are upwards of $1000.