The 5N is one of Drobo's most popular network-attached storage products. Drobo designed the 5N to bridge the gap between performance and affordability while keeping a small footprint that is ideal for desk placement. Advanced features keep the 5N from being an entry-level appliance, but it is a great system for beginners due to its focus on ease of use.

Since our review of the Drobo B810n 8-bay NAS appliance, the company stepped back to assess where it could make improvements to its products as a whole. Drobo expanded the software package that affects many of the company's network-attached products. In 2016, we've seen upgrades to the hardware, feature set, and software. Drobo is currently working on making well-rounded products and not resting on its laser-like focus on ease of use.
Even with the new features, Drobo network-attached products are still the easiest NAS to configure and get working in your home or office. The system doesn't present many choices for you during the initial set up because the hardware eliminates the need to truly understand the software. Once you put drives in the system, the hardware takes over and builds a default configuration that most people would use. The base configuration with BeyondRAID technology is very good right out of the box. It doesn't matter if your drives match, if you fill the entire system or even use just a single drive. What you get is what you want 95 percent of the time, and without any user interaction. The premise is simple; here is your storage volume, do with it what you will.