Bigger. Better. Bolder.

The Fastest Drobo Yet With Thunderbolt™ 3 Speed

Meet the bigger, better, and bolder Drobo 8D. Capable of supporting 16 volumes of up to 128TB, with a total storage pool of 256TB, 8D is designed to meet the need for data-intensive workflows. With lightning speed ThunderboltTM 3*, the Drobo 8D is the fastest direct attached Drobo yet. The 8D comes equipped with a Drobo Accelerator Bay, and is the only Drobo with the new Intelligent Volume Management technology.

*8D is a Mac only product

Drobo Direct Attached Storage (DAS) Performance

If you need to edit high-definition videos, store a large photo library, or simply backup terabytes of data, the Drobo direct attached products deliver the perfect combination of speed, simplicity, expansion, and protection. Drobo products are designed from the ground up to meet the data storage needs of today’s media creators and demanding professionals. Products include cutting-edge USB Type C and or Thunderbolt™ 3 interfaces which connect directly to your computer to provide faster access speeds. The Drobo DAS line includes Drobo 5CDrobo 5D3, and Drobo 8D.

Here are some Resources to help you choose the perfect Drobo.

Which Drobo is Right?

Our 4 easy steps to help you choose the right Drobo.

Capacity Calculator

Approximates the space utilized with various mixed disk configurations.

Drive Selector

Balance acquisition costs and performance requirements vs. capacity requirements.

Drobo Migration

When it comes to upgrading your Drobo to a larger or newer version, you have several options.

Drobo Resource Center

View a library of the latest Case Studies, White Papers, Solutions Briefs, and Datasheets.

Leave Your Limitations Behind… Go BeyondRAID®

Built on award-winning BeyondRAID™ technology, Drobo 8D simply protects your data against a single or dual disk drive failure. Drives can be added, hot-swapped and updated in real time for storage expansion with zero downtime. If you’re running low on space, the lights on the front provide guidance. Just add a drive in an empty bay, or remove a smaller drive and replace it with a larger one. In addition, Smart Volumes™ are thinly provisioned volumes, that automatically utilize capacity as needed from a common pool of storage. Learn More

SSD Acceleration Boosts Performance

Most storage arrays use either all hard drives or all SSDs. The Drobo 8D delivers the best of both worlds by intelligently combining hard drives and SSDs to deliver both capacity and performance. The Drobo 8D gives you the option to enable Hot Data Caching through the Drobo Accelerator Bay on the rear slot. Using an SSD allows access to most frequently read data to deliver blazing fast speeds. This boosts performance of popular applications such as Apple’s Final Cut and Adobe Lightroom. SSDs can also be utilized in the front bays of the Drobo 8D for Data-Aware Tiering, allowing for transactional data to migrate to the SSDs. This ensures that both writes and reads are accelerated.

Intelligent Volume Management

New to the Drobo product line is the Intelligent Volume Management technology available on the 8D. This technology combines the flexibility of manual volume configuration with the convenience of Drobo’s legendary automation, allowing for separation of file systems as customer needs dictate. The 8D allows the creation of up to 16 volumes with a maximum 128TB volume size, and a 256TB storage pool.

Power of ThunderboltTM 3

Drobo 8D storage array offers a lightning-fast Thunderbolt 3 connection (macOS only) that is both fast and backwards compatible. This optimizes your performance when transferring large volumes of data. With the dual ports, the Drobo 8D connects up to six Thunderbolt devices or five devices and a monitor at the end of the chain. Supports one 5K or two 4K displays (with a Thunderbolt dock).

Enhanced Backup for Time Machine

Time Machine and Drobo: A Perfect Pairing Apple’s Time Machine was designed to make backing up your files simple and painless. Pairing Time Machine with Drobo improves your data protection by ensuring your data is safe in the event of hard drive failure. Control How Much Storage Time Machine Uses Apple’s guidelines are to set the storage space for Time Machine at twice the size of the Mac’s hard drive that is to be protected. Time Machine users know that it will gradually use all available disk space without an easy way to stop this from happening. With Drobo you can easily control the maximum storage space available for Time Machine backups through Drobo Dashboard. When you install a Drobo, Drobo Dashboard prompts to see if you want to create a dedicated storage volume for Time Machine’s use, allowing you to set the size of this volume. Learn More: Drobo and Time Machine for Backup

Power Protecting Your Critical Data

In addition to drive failure protection, Drobo also protects against potential data loss during a power outage. In every Drobo we include battery backup technology to protect data in memory or cache. When power spontaneously goes away, Drobo moves any in-flight data to onboard flash in your Drobo, so it will be protected and moved to your disk drives once power is restored. This ensures your important information is safe and sound. Even better, your battery recharges itself and is designed to last for the life of your Drobo.

DroboCare™

DroboCare extends beyond Standard Hardware Warranty, providing you with additional peace of mind. If an issue occurs, we will immediately send you a replacement Drobo and pay for shipping both ways. Phone support is also available 24×7, beginning the day you activate DroboCare. *Please note that DroboCare does not cover failed hard drives. Learn More

Specifications
Connectivity
  • 2 x Thunderbolt 3 ports; second port for daisy chaining Thunderbolt devices, including one 5K or two 4K displays (macOS only)
Drives and Expansion
  • Up to eight (8) 3.5”SATA hard disk drives or solid state drives (sold separately)
  • One (1) 2.5” solid state drive in the Drobo Accelerator Bay for increased performance (sold separately)*
  • Drives of any manufacturer, capacity, spindle speed, and/or cache can be used. No carriers or tools required. Click here for drive recommendations
  • Expandable by adding drives or hot-swapping drives with larger ones. Use the Capacity Calculator to estimate available storage in various configurations.
BeyondRAID Features
  • Thin Provisioning
  • Instant Expansion
  • Mixed Drive Size Utilization
  • Automatic Protection Levels
  • Single – or Dual-Disk Redundancy
  • Virtual Hot Spare
  • Data-Aware Tiering
  • Drive Re-ordering
Management
  • Drive bay indicator lights, capacity gauge, status lights
  • Drobo Dashboard version 3.3.0 or later
Operating System Support
  • Apple® macOS 10.12 and higher
File System Options
  • macOS: HFS+
Hardware Features
  • Carrier-less drive bays
  • Power fail protection with internal battery
  • Metal chassis and cover
  • Rear slot for 2.5” SATA SSD
  • Hybrid Storage
  • Automated Data-Aware Tiering
  • Kensington Lock Port for security (lock not included)
Additional Software Features
  • Hot Data Caching
  • Maximum System Capacity: 128TB
  • Drive Spin Down
  • Dim Lights
  • macOS Time Machine Support
  • Intelligent Volume Management
Warranty
  • Two (2) year warranty
Size and Weight
  • Desktop Form Factor
  • Width: 12.17 in (309.1 mm)
  • Height: 5.46 in (138.7 mm)
  • Depth: 14.1 in (358.1 mm)
  • Weight: 16 lb 4 oz (7.4 kg) without hard drives, or packaging
Power and Cooling
  • Internal Power Supply:
    • AC Input – 100-240VAC~3.5A, 50-60Hz
    • DC Output – 12V, 20.8A, 250W max
  • Dual, fixed cooling fans
  • 15W of power to slow charge a Thunderbolt 3 laptop
Box Contents
  • Drobo 8D
  • 3.3 ft (1 m) Thunderbolt 3 cable
  • 6 ft (1.8 m) power cord
Certifications Feature
  • Environmental: RoHS,
  • Regulatory Compliance for US, Canada, EU, Australia/New Zealand, Japan, and Korea: FCC Part 15 Subpart B; ICES-003 Issue 6; EN 55024, EN55032,
  • EN61000-3-2; EN61000-3-3; AS/NZS CISPR 32; VCCI-CISPR 32-2016; KN32; KN 35
  • Safety: UL, CB, CAN/CSA-22.2 No. 60950-1
Product Part Numbers
  • Americas: DRDR7A21
  • Europe, Middle East & Africa: DRDR7A31
  • Asia Pacific: DRDR7A61 / DRDR7A51