Drobo Mini - Turning On and Formatting

Drobo Mini Getting Started Guide 22
Important Notes:
-
Volume size does not represent how much actual storage space is available on your Drobo
Mini. It represents virtual storage space. For example, your Drobo Mini may be loaded with
2TB of drive space, but you can create a volume of 16TB. What this enables you to do is add
more capacity to your Drobo Mini (by inserting an additional drive or replacing a smaller
capacity drive with a larger capacity one) without having to format an additional volume. The
additional capacity becomes part of the same volume you formatted originally.
-
Your operating system may show the virtual space you have available on your Drobo device,
as defined by the volume size.
- If the amount of available, protected storage space in your Drobo Mini ever exceeds the size
of the volume that you chose (this may occur when you add one or more additional drives to
your Drobo Mini), then Drobo Dashboard will automatically create a new volume (or volumes)
of the same size as the original volume. Drobo Dashboard will notify you when this occurs
and ask you to format and name the new volume(s).
Tip: For most customers, we recommend choosing the largest volume size available for the
selected file system. Note, however, that smaller volume sizes can be more efficient and
manageable in certain situations, such as when indexing, scanning or searching volumes.
Turning On Your Drobo Mini and Formatting the Drives
With Drobo Dashboard installed on your host computer and cables connected, you are ready to
turn on your Drobo device and format the drives.
1.
With Drobo Dashboard open on your computer, press the power button on the back of your
Drobo device once.
Your Drobo device powers on and appears on the All Drobos page in Drobo Dashboard.
Note: Some Windows and Mac operating systems will also prompt you to format the drives.
Click Cancel or Ignore, as appropriate, and continue with formatting from Drobo Dashboard.
2.
Double-click on the Drobo Mini icon on the All Drobos page.
A message opens, asking if you would like to format the device.
3.
Click the Yes button.
The Format Type page opens. Depending on your operating system the page displays with
different options.