Drobo 5D Review

The Drobo 5D is a direct attached storage device (DAS) with five 3.5" carrier-less bays that features USB 3.0 and dual thunderbolt ports. Though similar in design to recent Drobo models, the 5D that we previously announced adds a lot of new features including: support for HDDs and SSDs, increased memory, a faster processor and battery backup. Drobo designed the 5D with media creatives such as video and audio editors in mind understanding their need for high capacity, high performance devices. Drobo offers a couple of other devices in the family such as the Mini which has the same features but with support for four 2.5" drives, as well as the 5N network attached storage device (NAS).

The Drobo 5D benefits from a significant feature set. Uniquely, unlike most other DAS devices, the 5D has a bay on the underside which can house an mSATA SSD to cache critical, frequently accessed data for increased performance. Users can choose a smaller capacity mSATA drive if their HDDs aren't capacity robust, or they could swap in a larger 128GB or 256GB mSATA SSD to heat up performance more significantly. The 5D also offers BeyondRAID technology with single or dual drive redundancy to provide data protection. Additionally, drives can be swapped for storage expansion instantly. Rounding out the features, there are two Thunderbolt ports - one of which supports daisy-chaining to enable users to utilize the speed of Thunderbolt on their other devices.

The Drobo 5D is available now with a 2 year warranty and a $775 street price. That includes both a Thunderbolt and a USB 3.0 cable.

Drobo 5D Specifications
Connectivity
2 x Thunderbolt ports; second port for daisy chaining (Mac OS X only)
1 x USB 3.0 port
Capacity
Up to 5 x 3.5" SATA II / III hard disk drives or solid state drives (sold separately)
1 x mSATA solid state drive (sold separately)
BeyondRAID Features
Thin Provisioning
Instant Expansion
Mixed Drive Size Utilization
Automatic Protection Levels
Dual Disk Redundancy
Virtual Hot Spare
Data Aware
Drive Re-ordering
Management
Drive bay indicator lights, capacity gauge, status lights
Drobo Dashboard version 2.3 or later
Operating System Support
Mac OS X 10.7.x Lion
Mac OS X 10.8.x Mountain Lion
Windows 7 SP1 32 and 64 bit
Windows 8 32 and 64 bit
File System Options
Mac OS X: HFS+
Windows: NTFS
Hardware Features
Carrier-less Drive Bays
Power Fail Protection
Kensington Lock Port for Security (lock not included)
Additional Software Features
Data-Aware Tiering
Drive Spin Down
Dim Lights
Dimensions (WxHxD): 5.9" (150.3 mm) x 7.3" (185.4 mm) x 10.3" (262.3 mm)
Weight: 8.5 lbs (without hard drives and power supply)
Power and Cooling
External Power Supply: AC Input – 100-240VAC~2A, 50-60Hz; DC Output – 12V, 12.5A, 150W max
Single, fixed, variable speed cooling fan
Acoustics – Normal Operation: 24 dBA
Standard 2-year warranty; extend to 3 years and enhance support with DroboCare

Design and Build

The Drobo 5D has a unique design because of its completely tool-less access to its carrier-less bays, but before we get to that, we'll have a look at its build and quality. The whole device is black and is enclosed in solid metal to keep the unit cool. Drobo employs plastic for several other parts of the build, unlike some more premium looking comparables such as the LaCie 5big NAS Pro. The rear grille, the door, and the bay enclosure are all composed of plastic. Overall, the exterior enclosure feels solid, but some of the plastic pieces such as the bay flaps feel flimsy.

Samsung Gear VR review

As far as phone accessories go, the Oculus Gear VR has always been one of the best. But now, paired with a motion controller, you owe this to yourself if you own a Samsung smartphone.

The revised Gear VR touts a streamlined, slightly improved design and features a USB-C connector that hooks directly into the Samsung Galaxy S8 and Samsung Galaxy S8 Plus. However, the big draw here is the included wireless controller.

It’s a small remote that looks similar to an HTC Vive controller, elevated touchpad, punchy trigger and all. And while it may not get points for originality, it just works. Placed in either the right or left hand, this controller is simple to pair to your phone and the motion controls add a new level of interactivity that was sorely missing from the Gear VR suite.3

While the amount of titles that support motion controls are slim at the moment, what is there is actually a pretty good start. The Google Daydream View is a step ahead in that regard, as it launched last year, but I’d expect Samsung and Oculus to catch up rather quickly.

Altogether, with the robust and ever-growing collection of VR content and the new controller, the new Gear VR is a painless recommendation. It’s lighter, more comfortable and cross-compatible with older Samsung phones, too. However, if you already own a previous version of the headset, you can pick up the controller separately.
Samsung Gear VR price and release date

The new Samsung Gear VR will release April 21 to the tune.

For those already rocking a Gear VR headset, Samsung plans on selling the controller separately for $39 (about £30, AU$50).

Comparatively, the 2015 version of the headset originally cost pped down to a price of about $60 or £50 from some sources.

12 Things Your Business Loan Application Must Include

When you're applying for a loan, it’s important to know what you’ll need to provide and what lenders are looking for. Think of your loan application as a sales tool, just like your brochures or ads. When you put togetherThingsthe right combination of facts and figures, your application will sell your lender on the short- and long-term profit potential of lending money to your business. To do that, the application must convince your lender that you'll pay back the loan as promised and that your managerial ability will result in a profit-making partnership.

Banks are in the money-lending business. To lend money, they need evidence of security and stability. It’s that simple.

How can you provide this evidence when your business hasn’t even gotten off the ground? Begin by making sure your loan application is both realistic and optimistic. If you predict an increase in sales of between 8 and 12 percent, base your income projections on an increase of 10 percent, and then specify what you intend to do to ensure the additional sales.

Also make sure your application is complete. When a piece of an application is missing, bankers instantly suspect that either something is being hidden or the applicant doesn’t know their business well enough to pull the information together.

There are 12 separate items that should be included in every loan application. The importance of each one varies with the size of your business, your industry, and the amount you're requesting. Many of these items are part of your business plan; a few of them will have to be added. Here’s a look at each section:

Why 'Follow Your Passion' Is Awful, Flawed Advice

With a job being something that we can no longer count on and more demands than ever on our time, we seem to be in constant search of balance and fulfillment. This has created a huge “follow your passion” movement, which suggests that you should earn a living by creating a livelihood from your greatest life passion.But getting intoxicated by the passion story is akin to “business beer goggles.” You aren’t thinking clearly or seeing the reality.For businesses to be successful, entrepreneurs need to think about opportunities from their customers’ perspective as much as from their own perspective.

8 Costly Startup Expenses That Are Actually Worth the Investment

Many entrepreneurs believe that bootstrapping is the best way to start a company, giving you the freedom you wouldn’t have if you had to report every expense to a venture capitalist or angel investor (though that’s not to say those parties aren’t concerned with costs either).

However, some expenses are important -- even when they’re costly. Here are eight in particular that are actually worth the investment.