Had Drobo. Transitioning Help!

[Enquiries]

I have four DROBO, 5-Bay NAS drives, two of which are ethernet and two that are USB 3.1.

I want to transition just to ethernet, but I’m only interested in two NAS Devices.

I want to consolidate everything into two separate NAS configurations. I’m just having a hard time figuring out what kind of build I want. One of the devices I want to be HDMI capable as I have transferred all of my DVD and Blu-ray discs into digital format that I wanna fit on one of the NA devices.

The second device I want to dedicate to photographs and just back up data storage. I’m interested in a RAID-5 configuration.

I have the discs already so I’m looking for a diskless configuration.

[ed]

Thanks for getting in touch, and I completely understand the situation. Moving on from Drobo, especially with a mix of USB and Ethernet models, can be a bit of a challenge, but there are some solid options out there that will give you better long-term flexibility and performance.

Since you’re aiming to consolidate down to two Ethernet-connected NAS units and already have drives on hand, staying diskless is a smart move. For the NAS that you’ll be using for your Blu-ray and DVD rips, having HDMI is definitely useful if you want local playback or direct access to a screen. In that case, I’d recommend looking at something like the Asustor Lockerstor 6 Gen2 (AS6706T). It’s a 6-bay NAS, HDMI 2.0 output, handles Plex and Kodi well, and has enough horsepower to manage large libraries. It also supports RAID 5, has NVMe cache options if needed, and uses 2.5GbE for improved network speeds. It’s very media-friendly, and should come in just under your $600 diskless budget depending on where you buy.

For the second NAS that will be used for photos and backup, and where HDMI isn’t necessary, you could look at the QNAP TS-664. It’s a 6-bay system as well, supports RAID 5, and has good snapshot backup tools, 2.5GbE networking, and upgradable memory. It works well for both home and business environments and is generally one of the best options at this price point if you want flexibility without a locked-in ecosystem. If you’re more comfortable with Synology’s software, the DS1522+ is another good option, although it is a bit tighter on budget and doesn’t have HDMI or GPU support.

Since you’re using WD Gold drives, both of these options will support them without issue. Just be sure the NAS you go for does not have enforced drive compatibility restrictions. Synology has been moving that way on their newer models, which is something to avoid if you’re planning to reuse existing disks. Also, if you plan to repurpose drives from your Drobos, it’s worth double-checking their health and ensuring they’re all the same capacity before building your RAID 5, as mixed-capacity setups will result in wasted space.