Connecting To A Power Source; Turning On The Power And Formatting The Drives; Selecting A File System And Volume Size - Drobo Pro Getting Started Manual

Connecting to a Power Source

1. Connect the power supply to the power connection at the back of your Drobo device.
2. Connect the other end of the power supply to a power source.
Important Note: The Drobo will start up immediately. (This is not so for the DroboPro
or Drobo S, which can be turned on via their power toggle buttons.) When the Drobo
starts up with Drobo Dashboard displayed, you will be prompted to format the drives.
Before doing this, be sure to read the following section, "Turning on the Power and
Formatting the Drives." Steps for formatting the drives are on pg. 18.
Note: We recommend plugging into an uninterruptible power supply (UPS) or surge
protector. For more information, see "Using an Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS)
or Power Surge Protector" on page 8.
You are now ready to turn on your Drobo device and format the drives.

Turning on the Power and Formatting the Drives

After installing Drobo Dashboard, inserting the drives into your Drobo device and connecting
cables, you are ready to turn on your Drobo device and format the drives.
Before doing the steps for this, however, it is important to know what file system formatand
volume size you will choose when you format the drives.

Selecting a File System and Volume Size

When you turn on your Drobo/Pro/S, you will be prompted to format the drives in your Drobo/
Pro/S with a particular file system. What file system formats are available to you depend on
your operating system. (See Figure 6.)
You will also be formatting your Drobo/Pro/S into at least one volume, and you will need to
choose a size for that volume. A volume is a storage area that has been formatted with a file
system format your operating system can recognize. In Windows, volumes are sometimes
called "logical drives" or "partitions."
The largest volume size you are allowed depends on the file system format you choose and
the total capacity of the drives in your Drobo device. The following table (Figure 6) shows the
maximum volume size allowed for each file system format.
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