---
product_id: 141500455
title: "Drobo 5D3 40TB: 5-Drive Direct Attached Storage (DAS) Array with 4x6TB Seagate NAS Drives – Dual Thunderbolt 3 and USB 3.0 type C ports (DRDR6A21-40TB)"
brand: "drobo"
price: "€ 2821.34"
currency: EUR
in_stock: false
reviews_count: 7
url: https://www.desertcart.fr/products/141500455-drobo-5d3-40tb-5-drive-direct-attached-storage-das-array
store_origin: FR
region: France
---

# Dual Thunderbolt 3 ports for ultra-fast transfer 40TB raw capacity with 5-drive scalable array BeyondRAID auto data protection & hot-swap drives Drobo 5D3 40TB: 5-Drive Direct Attached Storage (DAS) Array with 4x6TB Seagate NAS Drives – Dual Thunderbolt 3 and USB 3.0 type C ports (DRDR6A21-40TB)

**Brand:** drobo
**Price:** € 2821.34
**Availability:** ❌ Out of Stock

## Summary

> 🚀 Elevate your storage game — speed, scale, and security in one sleek powerhouse!

## Quick Answers

- **What is this?** Drobo 5D3 40TB: 5-Drive Direct Attached Storage (DAS) Array with 4x6TB Seagate NAS Drives – Dual Thunderbolt 3 and USB 3.0 type C ports (DRDR6A21-40TB) by drobo
- **How much does it cost?** € 2821.34 with free shipping
- **Is it available?** Currently out of stock
- **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.fr](https://www.desertcart.fr/products/141500455-drobo-5d3-40tb-5-drive-direct-attached-storage-das-array)

## Best For

- drobo enthusiasts

## Why This Product

- Trusted drobo brand quality
- Free international shipping included
- Worldwide delivery with tracking
- 15-day hassle-free returns

## Key Features

- • **BeyondRAID Data Security:** Automated, award-winning BeyondRAID technology safeguards your data with real-time redundancy and battery-backed cache protection.
- • **Flexible mSATA Accelerator Bay:** Boost your workflow with optional mSATA SSD caching for lightning-quick access to your most-used files.
- • **Massive & Scalable Storage Power:** Start with 40TB and effortlessly expand by hot-swapping or adding drives without downtime.
- • **Designed for Creative Pros & Managers:** Compact, quiet design with dimmable LEDs fits perfectly in your professional workspace, ensuring productivity without distractions.
- • **Blazing Fast Thunderbolt 3 Connectivity:** Experience seamless 4K/5K media workflows with dual Thunderbolt 3 ports delivering up to 40Gbps speeds.

## Overview

The Drobo 5D3 40TB is a professional-grade 5-bay direct attached storage array featuring dual Thunderbolt 3 and USB 3.0 Type-C ports. It supports up to 40TB raw capacity with 5x 3.5" SATA HDDs, expandable on-the-fly with hot-swappable drives. Its award-winning BeyondRAID technology offers automated data protection and battery-backed cache to prevent data loss during power interruptions. Ideal for media professionals and managers handling large 4K/5K workflows, it includes an mSATA Accelerator Bay for SSD caching and dimmable LEDs to reduce workspace light pollution.

## Description

Lightning fast storage for your creative workflow. The Drobox 5D3 is the 3rd generation 5 Bay Direct Attached Storage reimagined for media professionals, content creators, and small businesses. Lightning fast Thunderbolt technology delivers the speed, and Drobox's fully automated Beyond RAID functionality provides the simplicity for the best storage experience on the planet. Not only is the 5D3 fast, but it's easy to use, expandable, flexible and protected – exactly what you would expect from a Drobox. Safely edit, store and view photos and videos for your 4K/5K workflows as well as back up your personal and business data. This latest generation offers high-performance connectivity and is backward compatible with any computer running supported macOS or Windows. Drobox 5D3 comes with an Accelerator Bay for an mSATA card (not included) to enable our patented Drobox Accelerator Cache technology. The Drobox Accelerator Cache keeps a copy of your most frequently accessed data so that it can be delivered even faster when you need it. Drobox 5D3 includes a battery that protects all data in memory or cache. During a sudden power loss, the battery keeps the Drobox alive long enough for the data to be written to non-volatile storage, ensuring your important information is safe. Drobox LEDs can also be dimmed to reduce light pollution in a photo and video editing environments.

Review: Third time is a charm! - ----- UPDATE ----- November 29, 2018 Drobo sent me a third replacement unit. This unit (along with the new firmware) is working flawlessly. I've only seen the dreaded "Disk not ejected properly" error once in the past six months. Drobo also realized that something was going on with my Blu-ray/DVD drive that was connected to the Drobo via USB-C, so I've connected that drive directly to my iMac instead. ----- UPDATE ----- Feb 5, 2018 Drobo determined that my first 5D3 was defective and sent me a replacement. The process was fairly painless, and for a week or so I was very happy. The consistent "Disk not ejected properly" errors had disappeared. After about a week, these errors started to re-occur. I was in fairly consistent communication with Drobo support, and they asked me to send them more diagnostic files. The state of my Drobo then quickly deteriorated. When the unit is shut down or restarted, it starts power cycling (turning on for about half a second, turning off, then repeating). I have to unplug the unit for at least an hour before I can try to power it on again. Drobo asked me to put the unit in read-only mode and send them more diagnostic reports. After going into read-only mode, the unit would turn itself off after an hour or two... not long enough to get my data off of it. The volumes on the drive then completely disappeared so I was no longer able to access my data at all. I've now done a complete factory reset on the unit, and it still power cycles and won't load the new volume. Drobo is definitely having some very serious issues at the moment with this model, and I have very little confidence that they will fix it anytime soon. My last meaningful contact with their support staff was over a week ago. ----- I've had a DroboPro FS for six years, and although it is slow and Drobo's customer service was never great, it has been rock solid in terms of keeping my data safe. So for my new 2017 iMac, I decided to rely on the Drobo 5D3 for my data storage. I have three main issues with this machine: 1) It is loud. Even when it's in standby mode, the fan runs at an unusually high speed. It's loud enough that you can hear it down the hallway from my home office. 2) It's slow. I have four WD Red Pro 2TB 7200 RPM drives, a Samsung 850 EVO 250GB mSATA drive in the HotCache, and have dual disk redundancy on. The BlackMagic speed test is consistently around 270 MB/s write and 350 MB/s read. I am using an active Thunderbolt 3 cable. For reference, competitors RAID 5 & 6 devices can average between 800 MB/s to 1000 MB/s read/write. 3) I am really anxious about the integrity of my data. I consistently get "Disk Not Ejected Properly" errors on both my TimeMachine backup volume and my Data volume (both are on this Drobo) when my computer wakes up. Drobo has a knowledge base article explaining that this is an issue they are working on and to disable Power Nap. I still get these errors when Power Nap is disabled. Drobo support has told me that they are working with Apple on fixing this issue, but will not give me a timeline for the fix. When I do get these errors, the TimeMachine volume disappears and my iMac won't go to sleep anymore until I reboot it and then reboot the Drobo (in that order). Furthermore, Drobo's support is not very helpful, and it's nearly impossible to see what's going on in your case through their support portal. I am not confident in the integrity of my data or that Drobo will fix these issues.
Review: In spite of all the bad reviews, I am very pleased with this. - Just recently purchased this Drobo 5D3 for my new 2017 iMac i7. I have to say, I was quite skeptical from all the reviews, but my personal experience has been nothing but positive. The packaging was very quality and well thought out. The process for setting it up was quite nice. It basically went like this…Installed 256GB EVO SSD drive on bottom. Inserted three 7200 RPM 128MB cache disks that are 3TB each. I then plugged the Drobo into a spare Thunderbolt 3 port on my iMac, using the enclosed Thunderbolt cable from Drobo and turned it on. Once that was done, I installed the Drobo Dashboard that I downloaded from Drobo-ensuring I had the latest. When I launched it, it detected the Drobo and automatically updated the firmware (nice). I think there were some other things I did in the dashboard, like create the volume and setup email messaging. All worked fine. I've not had any disconnects from my iMac or slow speeds as others have indicated-especially when using the enclosed Thunderbolt cable. I even bought an active cable and there were no differences in speed (300MB/s+ write and close to 400MB+ read using 5GB stress file in Blackmagic). I may purchase newer disks at some point ad fill the array for more spindles, but honestly, for my real-world work, the speed is fine. I run several Parallels VMs off it, Lightroom library, movies for iTunes, Plex, etc. No issues. Now here is the cool part-I've been using some form of RAID for decades and this has to be the easiest and most flexible way to upgrade an enclosure. I decided to add a few 2TB disks that were old and slower. Expectedly the read/write performance went down. So…I removed one and the array was rebuilt on the fly. Then I removed the other one and again, the array was rebuilt back to the original 3 disks. NO LOSS of any data and was about a 7-10 minute operation. Honestly, this was so very cool and the flexibility is amazing. I then yanked one of the 3 remaining disks and no issues. Replaced it, no issues and the array was rebuilt to be fully redundant. I'm using single disk redundancy right now. As for the noise, I don't have dog ears so I'm not bothered by it in the least. I saw all the other issues people have posted about disconnects, speed, nice, data loss, service, etc. I honestly do not dispute the reports, as there are so many of those types of postings. All I can tell you that, as of having this Drobo in use for a few days, I've been nothing but super happy with it. YMMV, but my mileage so far is awesome!

## Features

- Highly scalable direct attached storage array with 2 x Thunderbolt 3 (macOS only) 1 x USB 3. 0 Type C ports
- Holds up to 5x 3. 5" SATA HDDs. Optional mSATA SSD boosts performance. Expandable by adding drives or hot-swapping drives with larger ones. On-line and instant capacity expansion
- Award-winning Beyond RAID automated data protection. Internal battery backup protects against power interruptions
- Ideal for large media collections and performance demanding applications with 64TB volume support
- Includes Thunderbolt 3 cable compatible with USB 3.0 Type-C. *Units with hard drives include Seagate NAS Drives

## Technical Specifications

| Specification | Value |
|---------------|-------|
| ASIN | B07TL95S5G |
| Batteries | 1 Lithium Ion batteries required. (included) |
| Brand | Drobo |
| Customer Reviews | 3.7 3.7 out of 5 stars (142) |
| Date First Available | June 28, 2019 |
| Hard Drive | 4E+1 Raid |
| Hard Drive Interface | USB 1.1 |
| Hardware Platform | Mac, PC |
| Item Dimensions LxWxH | 10.3 x 5.9 x 7.3 inches |
| Item Weight | 8.5 pounds |
| Item model number | DRDR6A21-40TB |
| Manufacturer | Drobo |
| Product Dimensions | 10.3 x 5.9 x 7.3 inches |
| Series | DRDR6A21 |

## Product Details

- **Brand:** Drobo
- **Compatible Devices:** Desktop
- **Connectivity Technology:** Thunderbolt 3
- **Digital Storage Capacity:** 4000 GB
- **Hard Disk Description:** Raid
- **Hard Disk Form Factor:** 3.5 Inches
- **Hard Disk Interface:** USB 1.1
- **Hard Disk Size:** 4E+1 TB
- **Installation Type:** External Hard Drive
- **Special Feature:** Portable

## Images

![Drobo 5D3 40TB: 5-Drive Direct Attached Storage (DAS) Array with 4x6TB Seagate NAS Drives – Dual Thunderbolt 3 and USB 3.0 type C ports (DRDR6A21-40TB) - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51jpjal6aVL.jpg)

## Questions & Answers

**Q: Has anyone used thunderbolt adapter to mount this to a thunderbolt 2 iMac? I plan on upgrading iMac in future.**
A: Yes, the Drobo 5D3 will work with a Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) to Thunderbolt 2 Adapter.

**Q: Does this unit support Thunderbolt in Windows?**
A: The Drobo site shows support for Windows 8+10 on their site and https://www.kitguru.net/professional/networking/nas/andrzej/drobo-adds-thunderbolt-connectivity-to-its-5d3-das-for-windows/

**Q: Does anyone know if the drobo 5d3 be connected to two computers using either both tb3 ports or one tb3 and the usb3 ports? thank you.**
A: No it cannot. The two Thunderbolt ports are for daisy-chaining various TB devices like hard drives or monitors. You will only be able to access the Drobo from 1 computer at a time.

**Q: If a 5d3 is connected to a pc via usb c, can i daisy chain a secind via the thunderbolt ports?**
A: Can you connect to a drobo via the USB-C port labeled "USB" and then daisy chain a second drive via the USB-C thunderbolt ports? No.

Drobo devices with both USB and Thunderbolt ports can only be used as _either_ a USB or a Thunderbolt drive and a 5d3 does not turn the two Thunderbolt ports into a USB hub when connected via the USB port.

## Customer Reviews

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Third time is a charm!
*by D***E on October 27, 2017*

----- UPDATE ----- November 29, 2018 Drobo sent me a third replacement unit. This unit (along with the new firmware) is working flawlessly. I've only seen the dreaded "Disk not ejected properly" error once in the past six months. Drobo also realized that something was going on with my Blu-ray/DVD drive that was connected to the Drobo via USB-C, so I've connected that drive directly to my iMac instead. ----- UPDATE ----- Feb 5, 2018 Drobo determined that my first 5D3 was defective and sent me a replacement. The process was fairly painless, and for a week or so I was very happy. The consistent "Disk not ejected properly" errors had disappeared. After about a week, these errors started to re-occur. I was in fairly consistent communication with Drobo support, and they asked me to send them more diagnostic files. The state of my Drobo then quickly deteriorated. When the unit is shut down or restarted, it starts power cycling (turning on for about half a second, turning off, then repeating). I have to unplug the unit for at least an hour before I can try to power it on again. Drobo asked me to put the unit in read-only mode and send them more diagnostic reports. After going into read-only mode, the unit would turn itself off after an hour or two... not long enough to get my data off of it. The volumes on the drive then completely disappeared so I was no longer able to access my data at all. I've now done a complete factory reset on the unit, and it still power cycles and won't load the new volume. Drobo is definitely having some very serious issues at the moment with this model, and I have very little confidence that they will fix it anytime soon. My last meaningful contact with their support staff was over a week ago. ----- I've had a DroboPro FS for six years, and although it is slow and Drobo's customer service was never great, it has been rock solid in terms of keeping my data safe. So for my new 2017 iMac, I decided to rely on the Drobo 5D3 for my data storage. I have three main issues with this machine: 1) It is loud. Even when it's in standby mode, the fan runs at an unusually high speed. It's loud enough that you can hear it down the hallway from my home office. 2) It's slow. I have four WD Red Pro 2TB 7200 RPM drives, a Samsung 850 EVO 250GB mSATA drive in the HotCache, and have dual disk redundancy on. The BlackMagic speed test is consistently around 270 MB/s write and 350 MB/s read. I am using an active Thunderbolt 3 cable. For reference, competitors RAID 5 & 6 devices can average between 800 MB/s to 1000 MB/s read/write. 3) I am really anxious about the integrity of my data. I consistently get "Disk Not Ejected Properly" errors on both my TimeMachine backup volume and my Data volume (both are on this Drobo) when my computer wakes up. Drobo has a knowledge base article explaining that this is an issue they are working on and to disable Power Nap. I still get these errors when Power Nap is disabled. Drobo support has told me that they are working with Apple on fixing this issue, but will not give me a timeline for the fix. When I do get these errors, the TimeMachine volume disappears and my iMac won't go to sleep anymore until I reboot it and then reboot the Drobo (in that order). Furthermore, Drobo's support is not very helpful, and it's nearly impossible to see what's going on in your case through their support portal. I am not confident in the integrity of my data or that Drobo will fix these issues.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ In spite of all the bad reviews, I am very pleased with this.
*by I***N on February 24, 2018*

Just recently purchased this Drobo 5D3 for my new 2017 iMac i7. I have to say, I was quite skeptical from all the reviews, but my personal experience has been nothing but positive. The packaging was very quality and well thought out. The process for setting it up was quite nice. It basically went like this…Installed 256GB EVO SSD drive on bottom. Inserted three 7200 RPM 128MB cache disks that are 3TB each. I then plugged the Drobo into a spare Thunderbolt 3 port on my iMac, using the enclosed Thunderbolt cable from Drobo and turned it on. Once that was done, I installed the Drobo Dashboard that I downloaded from Drobo-ensuring I had the latest. When I launched it, it detected the Drobo and automatically updated the firmware (nice). I think there were some other things I did in the dashboard, like create the volume and setup email messaging. All worked fine. I've not had any disconnects from my iMac or slow speeds as others have indicated-especially when using the enclosed Thunderbolt cable. I even bought an active cable and there were no differences in speed (300MB/s+ write and close to 400MB+ read using 5GB stress file in Blackmagic). I may purchase newer disks at some point ad fill the array for more spindles, but honestly, for my real-world work, the speed is fine. I run several Parallels VMs off it, Lightroom library, movies for iTunes, Plex, etc. No issues. Now here is the cool part-I've been using some form of RAID for decades and this has to be the easiest and most flexible way to upgrade an enclosure. I decided to add a few 2TB disks that were old and slower. Expectedly the read/write performance went down. So…I removed one and the array was rebuilt on the fly. Then I removed the other one and again, the array was rebuilt back to the original 3 disks. NO LOSS of any data and was about a 7-10 minute operation. Honestly, this was so very cool and the flexibility is amazing. I then yanked one of the 3 remaining disks and no issues. Replaced it, no issues and the array was rebuilt to be fully redundant. I'm using single disk redundancy right now. As for the noise, I don't have dog ears so I'm not bothered by it in the least. I saw all the other issues people have posted about disconnects, speed, nice, data loss, service, etc. I honestly do not dispute the reports, as there are so many of those types of postings. All I can tell you that, as of having this Drobo in use for a few days, I've been nothing but super happy with it. YMMV, but my mileage so far is awesome!

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Review
*by M***W on April 8, 2019*

Great DAS for my vast Video collection. Installation was so simple. Just slide in the drives and it does the rest.

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*Product available on Desertcart France*
*Store origin: FR*
*Last updated: 2026-02-23*