Drobo is gone. And if you are still running one, the clock is ticking. Drobo ceased operations in 2023, ending support, firmware updates, and the supply chain for replacement units. Australian retailers stopped stocking Drobo earlier than most markets; by mid-2022 it was largely unavailable through Mwave, Scorptec, and other major AU resellers, which is why many AU editors are now searching for replacements. The question is not whether to replace a Drobo. It is which device replaces what made Drobo useful for Mac-based creative workflows specifically: Thunderbolt support, BeyondRAID mixed drive management, and a UI that did not require IT knowledge to operate.
In short: For Mac editors who used Drobo for its Thunderbolt connection, QNAP is the replacement. It is the only mainstream NAS brand with Thunderbolt support, available through AU retailers. For editors who valued BeyondRAID's mixed-drive flexibility over Thunderbolt, Synology's SHR is the closest equivalent. In either case: copy all data off your Drobo before it fails. Drobo drives cannot be read in any other NAS.
If your Drobo is still running: Back up everything now, before the hardware fails. Drobo drives use a proprietary filesystem that cannot be read by QNAP, Synology, or any other NAS. If the Drobo unit fails before you have copied the data off, recovery is significantly more difficult and expensive. Do not wait until a drive failure forces the issue.
What Drobo Users Actually Valued. And Why It Matters for the Replacement
Understanding what made Drobo work for creative professionals is the starting point for choosing a replacement. Generic "best NAS" lists miss this completely. They compare specs rather than workflow fit.
Drobo's appeal was built on three things. First, Thunderbolt. Drobo was one of the few storage devices offering Thunderbolt direct-attach for Mac users, giving speeds comparable to a local SSD for intensive editing workflows. Second, BeyondRAID. Drobo's proprietary RAID system allowed users to mix drives of different capacities in the same unit and expand storage simply by replacing smaller drives with larger ones. No RAID reconfiguration, no data migration, no IT knowledge required. Third, the UI. Drobo's dashboard was genuinely simple. It showed you how full the unit was, what drives were installed, and whether any were failing. Non-technical creative professionals could manage it without assistance.
The replacement does not need to match Drobo perfectly. It needs to match what you actually used Drobo for. For most editors, that was fast Thunderbolt access and simple drive management. For a smaller group, it was the mixed-capacity flexibility of BeyondRAID.
Before You Buy Anything: Migrate Your Drobo Data First
This is the most time-sensitive step. If your Drobo is still operational, the priority is to copy all data off the unit before the hardware fails. Not to choose a replacement.
Connect the Drobo to your Mac via Thunderbolt or USB and copy everything to your editing workstation's local storage, an external drive, or a temporary location. This is a slow process. A full Drobo at 4K footage volumes can take 12-48 hours to copy over, depending on the interface speed. Start this before you do anything else.
What does not work: You cannot remove the drives from your Drobo and put them in a QNAP or Synology. Drobo uses a proprietary filesystem (BeyondRAID) that only Drobo hardware can read. The drives outside the Drobo unit are unreadable by any other device. If your Drobo unit has already failed but the drives are intact, data recovery from Drobo drives requires specialist assistance. contact a professional data recovery service rather than attempting it yourself.
The Primary Replacement: QNAP for Mac Thunderbolt Workflows
For Mac-based editors who used Drobo primarily for its Thunderbolt connection, QNAP is the replacement the Australian editing community has converged on. It is the only mainstream NAS brand that supports Thunderbolt on current production units. Synology does not support Thunderbolt, and neither do the other major NAS brands in the AU market.
QNAP's Thunderbolt-equipped units are available from Australian retailers including Mwave and Scorptec, though stock availability varies by model. AU retailers stopped carrying Drobo before the international market, partly because Drobo's AU distributor support was weaker than QNAP's (distributed through Dicker Data and BlueChip IT, both with established AU service networks).
For editors coming from Drobo, the relevant QNAP models are those with M.2 NVMe slots (for SSD caching), Thunderbolt ports, and a bay count matching your previous Drobo capacity. QNAP's management interface (QTS) is more capable than Drobo's dashboard but also more complex. The trade-off that Drobo users find most significant when transitioning. Budget for a session with a local IT support person familiar with creative studio setups to get the initial configuration right; the ongoing management is straightforward once it is configured.
What you gain over Drobo: NVMe SSD caching for active editing (Drobo had no caching), a richer feature set for remote access and client sharing, active firmware development with ongoing security updates, and an AU-stocked supply chain with local warranty support under Australian Consumer Law.
The BeyondRAID Equivalent: Synology SHR
If BeyondRAID's mixed-drive-size flexibility was what mattered most in your Drobo setup. Rather than Thunderbolt specifically. Then Synology Hybrid RAID (SHR) is the closest modern equivalent.
SHR allows you to mix drives of different capacities in the same array and expand by simply adding or replacing drives, without complex RAID reconfiguration. It works similarly to BeyondRAID in practical terms: you add a larger drive, the array rebuilds, and your usable capacity grows without data loss or migration. Synology's DiskStation Manager (DSM) is a mature, well-regarded management interface. Generally considered easier to operate than QNAP's QTS for users without IT backgrounds.
The limitation for former Drobo users: Synology does not support Thunderbolt. If you are on Mac and need direct-attach Thunderbolt speeds for high-bitrate RAW editing, Synology connected over 2.5GbE or 10GbE is significantly slower than a Thunderbolt-attached Drobo or QNAP. For editors who primarily used Drobo as network storage (accessed from multiple machines) rather than direct Thunderbolt attach, this may not be a meaningful constraint. For single-editor setups requiring direct-attach speeds for ProRes or BRAW workflows, Thunderbolt matters.
NAS vs DAS: Which One Do You Actually Need?
A question worth asking before choosing a replacement: did you use Drobo as a NAS (network-attached, accessible to multiple devices) or as a DAS (direct-attach storage, connected to a single Mac via Thunderbolt and used as a local drive)?
Many Drobo users were using it as de facto DAS. Plugged directly into one Mac, not shared across a network. In that use case, a modern DAS device (Thunderbolt RAID enclosure without network capability) is a simpler and sometimes cheaper replacement than a full NAS. Brands like OWC and CalDigit make Thunderbolt RAID enclosures suited to single-editor Mac workflows. These are faster than a NAS in direct-attach use (no network stack overhead), simpler to configure, and less expensive for equivalent capacity.
If you want network access. Sharing footage across multiple Macs, remote access, or the option to connect a second editor. Then a NAS is the right path, and QNAP for Thunderbolt-primary users or Synology for network-primary users are the choices to evaluate. If you are a solo editor who just needs fast reliable local storage for one Mac and never needed network access, evaluate whether a DAS suits your workflow before defaulting to a full NAS.
Migrating Your Workflow: What Changes and What Does Not
For editors migrating from Drobo to QNAP: the editing software workflow does not change. DaVinci Resolve, Final Cut Pro, and Premiere Pro interact with the QNAP exactly as they did with the Drobo. It appears as a mounted volume. The Thunderbolt connection is the same cable. The main practical differences are the management interface (QTS rather than the Drobo Dashboard) and the initial setup, which is more involved than Drobo's plug-and-play experience.
Drives are not reusable from the Drobo. Purchase new NAS-rated drives (IronWolf or WD Red Pro) for the new unit. Do not use consumer desktop drives (WD Blue, Seagate Barracuda) in a NAS. They are not rated for 24/7 operation and can fail faster than their rated lifespan under continuous NAS workloads. The NAS drive compatibility guide covers which drives to buy and which to avoid.
For data retention and archive footage previously held on Drobo: once copied off and verified, these can be transferred to the new NAS or retained on the external drives used during migration. The migration is an opportunity to establish a proper tiered storage architecture. Active projects on the NAS, cold archive on external drives stored offsite. Rather than replicating the same single-tier Drobo setup on newer hardware.
Related reading: our NAS buyer's guide.
Our RAID Calculator shows usable capacity for modern NAS alternatives to Drobo across RAID 5, RAID 6, and SHR, and our NAS Sizing Wizard helps match the right replacement to your storage needs.
Can I reuse my Drobo drives in a QNAP or Synology?
No. Drobo uses a proprietary filesystem (BeyondRAID) that cannot be read by any other NAS platform. The drives must be erased and reformatted before use in a QNAP or Synology, which means all data on them is lost. Copy all data off your Drobo while the unit is still operational before purchasing a replacement. New NAS-rated drives (IronWolf or WD Red Pro) should be purchased for the new unit.
Is QNAP a good replacement for Drobo on Mac?
Yes. It is the primary replacement recommended by the Australian editing community for Mac Thunderbolt workflows. QNAP supports Thunderbolt on select models, provides NVMe SSD caching (which Drobo lacked), and is available from AU retailers with local warranty support. The interface (QTS) is more complex than Drobo's dashboard, which is the main adjustment for editors used to Drobo's simplicity. Budget for initial setup assistance if you are not comfortable with NAS configuration. Once configured, day-to-day operation is straightforward.
My Drobo has already failed and I cannot access the data. What should I do?
Do not attempt DIY recovery. Drobo's proprietary filesystem requires specialised tools to recover data from a failed unit. Australian data recovery specialists with NAS experience (including Drobo-specific recovery) include Payam Data Recovery and Ontrack AU. The drives themselves are likely intact. The BeyondRAID filesystem data is spread across them in a way that requires the Drobo controller logic to reconstruct. A qualified recovery specialist can often retrieve data even from units where the controller has failed. Recovery costs vary but are typically AU$500-3,000 depending on severity. Prioritise this before purchasing replacement hardware.
Does Synology support Thunderbolt?
No. Synology does not offer Thunderbolt on any current production NAS units. If you need direct-attach Thunderbolt speeds for editing (critical for ProRes 422 HQ, ProRes 4444, or BRAW at high quality ratios on a Mac), Synology is not the right replacement for a Thunderbolt-attached Drobo. QNAP is the relevant brand for Thunderbolt-equipped NAS in the AU market. If you only need network access (multiple editors over Ethernet, or a single editor happy with 2.5GbE or 10GbE speeds), Synology's SHR and DSM are well-regarded options.
How does QNAP RAID compare to Drobo's BeyondRAID for mixed drive sizes?
QNAP uses standard RAID levels (RAID 1, 5, 6, 10) which generally require drives of the same capacity for optimal configuration. Unlike BeyondRAID, you cannot easily mix a 4TB and an 8TB drive in the same RAID 5 array without capacity wastage (the larger drive's extra capacity is unusable in most configurations). If mixed-drive-size flexibility is important to you, Synology's SHR is the closer match to BeyondRAID. It handles mixed capacities more gracefully. QNAP does offer QNAP RAID configurations that can use mixed drives, but the management experience is not as seamless as BeyondRAID or SHR.
Where can I buy QNAP in Australia?
QNAP units are available from Mwave, Scorptec, PLE Computers, Centre Com, and Umart. Stock availability varies by model. Thunderbolt-equipped units are less commonly stocked than standard network-only units and may require ordering. QNAP is distributed in Australia through Dicker Data and BlueChip IT, both established AU distributors with local support networks. Buying from an Australian retailer means Australian Consumer Law warranty protections apply. Warranty claims are handled locally rather than through international RMA processes, which matters for a primary production device.
Choosing drives for your new NAS? The NAS drive compatibility guide covers which drives work for video editing workflows. And which ones to avoid.
NAS Drive Compatibility Guide →