Outside of hardcore enterprise systems that cost many thousands of dollars, the DROBO B810I stands alone as a mainstream dedicated iSCSI SAN-only device. The iSCSI feature is often included with lower-cost network-attached storage systems, but mostly as an afterthought. Drobo decided to take iSCSI seriously while maintaining the company's ease-of-use policy. The result is a user-friendly device that takes the complication out of a complicated setup process.
Some things just come with a certain expectation. Ferrari's are supposed to be fast, Lamborghini's are supposed to burn to the ground, and an iSCSI setup is supposed to be complicated. With network attached storage (NAS) devices, any system on the network, if it has permission, can access a storage volume through a simple command. Many NAS, even the low-cost products selling for $200, include the required software to setup a SAN running iSCSI. Most users don't bother jumping through the hoops required to set up an iSCSI pairing because it's difficult the first time. The process involves the language of both storage and network, two sets of principals most people never really want to learn more about after getting a good enough system up and running.
Storage Area Networks or SANs have several benefits over NAS systems. The data moves at the block-level, just like in your PC. The SAN storage array presents itself to your PC just like local storage, so it exposes itself as a hard disk drive in your Explorer window with a standard drive letter. Software that doesn't install or run well on a NAS will not know the array is offloaded to another PC. The software thinks the storage is local, and thus runs without hesitation.
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