Next month, a start-up called Data Robotics will unveil a storage device for consumers that it claims is easy to install and maintain.

Called Drobo, short for Data Robotics, the array consists of a 4-bay USB enclosure that can accommodate as many as 4TB of data. The Drobo uses any 80GB to 1TB Serial ATA I or II disk drives. It works with any PC or Mac and functions as a B: drive. The Drobo attaches via a USB 2.0 connection.

Drobo automatically formats drives as they are added to the system and automatically repairs data after drive failures, data corruption or data redundancy. As drives are added to the array, the storage pool is automatically expanded.

The Drobo enclosure is 6”x”6”10”. A series of lights on the front of the enclosure indicate to the user the health of the system. A green light indicates that the system is healthy. A solid yellow light indicates that it is time to put a larger drive in the enclosure. Blinking green or yellow lights indicate that Drobo is optimizing the layout of data. A solid red light next to a disk drive indicates that the hard drive has failed and needs replacing.

A Drobolater tool is available on Data Robotics’ site to help customers determine the capacity they need. Further, the company has launched a user community.

The company plans to launch higher capacity Drobo’s in the future.

Data Robotics was founded in 2005 as Trusted Data by Geoff Barall, the founder of network-attached storage vendor BlueArc. The company is funded by Greylock Partners, RRE Ventures and Sutter Hill Ventures. The company has picked up $18 million in funding.

The Drobo enclosure costs $499 and the serial ATA disk drives for it range from $89.99 to $324.99.

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