I shoot .jpg large files for 95% of my work.  raw for the rest.  I have about 10 tb of files in various external and internal drives.  have had 2 Lacie drives die recently.  the older my stuff gets, the less i need it, but i still would like data for a longer term. those drives were less than 1 year old.  i got them at the apple store.  no more lacie.  G Drives are great.  also, i do not need to access old files that often, only if a customer orders old files.  as of now, i only have 2009 events posted on my PR site.  once i get a stable backup, i may go back to repost older stuff, at least some events.  at some point in the future, i will be contacting you about developing a more complete network/server system with a ligit DB management/kiosk program.  right now i just run 4 mac minis to a secondary drive on a pro mac.  each mini has Photo Mech.
Parents and kids need constant supervision, resetting and refreshing folders constantly.  I would love a semi self serve, self ordering set up.  Not many guys that shoot events use Macs.  The speed is crutial to getting more parents to see photos before they leave the building.
I have only been sharing a drive with the 4 minis, being limited to 4 due to sharing limitations.  I need to upgrade to Mac Server allowing me to run dozens of minis.  The DB software is what I need.  File Maker Pro is what an Apple Genius recommended.  Need to see if that is the best thing out there.  I also need to have someone else write it.  I am an idiot.  Have found a few on the Apple website.  ANy ideas would be appreciated!  Will be adding mny Imacs, I hate the minis, but I gotta put my money to work in the right places for now...
http://www.actionphotos.net

Has anyone picked up a DROBO?  What do you like, not like.  Do you think it is suitable for archiving millions of photos.  I shoot 800,000 images/year and need to make drastic changes.