Tardas-Zib

Hi All,
After freshly installing WHS2011 and Drivepool (I used Version 2.1 beta from the mainpage download area), I was successfully able to add 3 harddisks (D:, F: G:) to drivepool and create the pool itself (E:).
 
As a second step I wanted to move the Standard WHS2011 Folders (e.g. Videos,..) to drivepool, but using the "move Folder" Option within the WHS2011 Dashpool does not give me the Option to move files to E: (only to D:, F:, G;)
 
As a newbie I kindly would ask for your help/explantion of how to move those WHS2011 Standard folders
 
thanks
msmn

as side from all the other challenges I've had with a sata add on card, doing a vanilla install, nothing funky, no changes to the config file,  only using drives connected to the MB, but the virtual drive pool is showing in scanner.  This happed twice this weekend.
 
and ideas?
 
Guess I should mention I'm on WHS 2011, running the latest stable releases for WHS of scanner and DP.  This is on a clean install.

Here's how I perceive the whole alpha/beta/version ball of string.
 
Alpha - the bare skeleton of a program, very crash-prone, full of bugs and lacking many planned features.
 
Beta - all major planned features and adding minor features, lots of minor bugs, often still some major bugs
 
RC (Release Candidate) - all major features, most/all minor features, only minor/unknown bugs should remain
 
Release - all major features, all minor features, no known bugs (except maybe a couple that are proving really hard to fix)
 
Stable - no known bugs, or at least the few remaining known bugs are well-documented edge-cases with workarounds
 
Final - can mean Stable, can mean Release, can mean last minor revision of a particular version on the roadmap
 
Version - a numerical way of distinguishing that the software is different from the last time it was published, often in the form of a date (e.g. ymd 20120616), integer (e.g. build# 1234) or revision (e.g. major.minor 2.3) or combination (e.g. ymd.build or revision.build or y.major.minor.build)
 
Roadmap - a list of planned features sorted by planned version, at least in theory.
 
For a hypothetical example, Fooware 2014 build 5.4 Beta might be a program published in the year 2014, is the 5th major version of that program, which in turn has seen 4 minor revisions (added another minor feature and/or fixed some bugs since the 3rd minor revision) that is still in Beta (has a tendency to crash for at least six different reasons along with numerous edge case problems).
 
To further confuse things, Alpha/Beta/etc can refer to a particular version of a program, a range of versions of a program, or be a separate tag independent of the version numbering scheme, depending on the preference of the person(s) doing the naming. For example, if you see a roadmap with Fooware 2014.5.3 Stable followed by Fooware 2014.5.4 Beta, this is likely to mean that a new minor feature has been added that may/has introduced some new bugs as well.

Is there a way to change the drive letter for the drive pool?
 

I know usb 3.0 can cause problems but I can't find a controller driver that works for the asrock fm2a85-itx motherboard and whs2011. This has the new Hudson d4 chip. So I guess this will be an issue till drivers are available. I tried the win 7 64bit drivers from asrock they have etron and asmedia. I don't know which this chipset uses but neither work and asrock documentation is lacking.

My WSE 2012 set up works great, backing everyone of my 4 computers up each day and serving my media and software files across the network.  The only thing (other than an inability to have the client backup folder in the pool (sigh)) that I haven't yet set up is the server backup itself.  I would ideally like to set it up to backup to an offsite (cloud) file service.  I have almost zero experience with cloud backups and could use any advice you may have.  Can WSE 2012 be set up to back the server up to the cloud/  Which services are best/cheapest?  Any problems with using one?  I realize not having the server backed up is a big security risk and that reminds me, what about data security for the stuff sent out to the "cloud"?  I'd like to keep my data private as possible.  I would be backing up only the server installation/drive itself and not all my terabytes of data.  Any advice is apprecieated,  Thanks.
 
Dave

EDIT:
I'm throwing in the towel on this whole external enclosure hardware setup.
It's time I put together a REAL server with REAL sata connections.
http://community.covecube.com/index.php?/topic/419-building-a-proper-whs-server-need-advice/page-2&do=findComment&comment=3008
 
Here's my new setup on the way:
http://community.covecube.com/index.php?/topic/507-my-new-lian-pc-v2120b-full-tower-home-server-setup-drivepoolscanner/
 
 
 
 
Here is my rock solid fast stable setup.  
 
I'm running Windows 8.1 x64 on all my computers including my DrivePool server.
 
I get greater than 100Mbps transfers across my gigabit network!  
 

 
x1
ZOTAC ZBOX ID83 [ZBOX-ID83-U] w/ Intel Core i3 3120M 2.5 GHz Dual-Core
http://www.zotacusa.com/zbox-id83.html
http://r.ebay.com/DL54aU
 

x1
Crucial m4 128GB 2.5-Inch (9.5mm) SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Drive CT128M4SSD2
http://www.amazon.com/Crucial-128GB-2-5-Inch-9-5mm-CT128M4SSD2/dp/B004W2JKZI/

 
 
x1
Crucial 8GB Kit (4GBx2) DDR3 1333 MT/s (PC3-10600) CL9 SODIMM 204-Pin Notebook Memory Modules CT2KIT51264BC1339
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003DZJQQI/

 
 
 
 
x1
Anker® Uspeed USB 3.0 4-Port Hub with 12V 2A Power Adapter and 3ft USB 3.0 Cable [VIA VL812 Chipset]
http://www.amazon.com/Anker®-Uspeed-4-Port-Adapter-Chipset/dp/B005QWY3PU/

 
 
x3
Mediasonic HF2-SU3S2 ProBox 4 Bay Hard Drive Enclosure with USB 3.0 & eSATA
http://www.amazon.com/Mediasonic-HF2-SU3S2-ProBox-Drive-Enclosure/dp/B003X26VV4/

 
x3 USB 3.0 to Esata Adapter Support Port Multiplier - U3esata
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005DCCMII/

 
x3  Monoprice 108791 6-Feet SATA 6 Gbps External Shielded Cable, eSATA to eSATA Type I to Type I, Black
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B009GUL1VM
 
 
 
 
 
 
x11
WD Red 3 TB NAS Hard Drive: 3.5 Inch, SATA III, 64 MB Cache - WD30EFRX
http://www.amazon.com/WD-Red-NAS-Hard-Drive/dp/B008JJLW4M

 
 
 
It all fits in a Ikea BESTÅ BURS Wall shelf in High Gloss Black.  This is all in my bed room suspended above the TV floating on the wall.  
(nice and quiet,  custom vented USB powered fans)
http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/60133931/

Is there a way to speed up duplication? Previously I had everything duplicated on a WHS v1 box, but have now wiped those drives and added them to my main WHS 2011 box and enabled duplication within DrivePool.  A week later it's only at 600gb duplicated. At this rate, it looks like it'll take months and I'm without backups in the mean time. I did try turning off balancing hoping duplication would be quicker, then it could balance at a later date, but that doesn't appear to have helped. Any suggestions?
 
thanks!

As per tilte, the balancer has been stuck at 'Building bucket lists..' for a couple of weeks, and the GUI shows that DP isn't able to balance to meet the targets.
 
I've uploaded logs ('service') as per the wiki and below, Service.zip
 
Do you need any more info?
 
Could you have a look into into this for me please? Not a major issue, though something not quite right with the balancer.

I'm using this script with snapraid:
http://sourceforge.net/p/snapraid/discussion/1677233/thread/3afc8cb4/?limit=25&page=1#9a07
 
And it works extremely well.

I ran Stablebit Scanner under Windows Server 2012 Essentials and the add-in appeared as a tab within the server dashboard.  However I've since moved to Windows Server 2012 Essentials R2 and installed the same add-in but no such add-in tab appears in the dashboard.  Though it does say on the website that it's compatible.
 
Did I do something wrong?  Or am I looking in the wrong place?
 
Thanks.

Hello,
 
Completely new here.  I am still on my trial currentlly.  I have a 8 drives of various sizes combined into one large drive. I also turned on folder duplication. Everything appears to be going well.
 
A question on the duplication. If I all of a sudden had one drive go out completely so that drivepool claims is was missing, could I simply remove it from the pool, replace it with another drive, add it to the pool and I would not lose data at all?
 
Wasnt Sure if drivepool duplication was considered backup or not because it protected from a hardware failure..
 

I'm giving up on my old setup
http://community.covecube.com/index.php?/topic/274-1x-zotac-zbox-id-83-mini-pc-x3-mediasonic-usb-30-enclosures-x12-wd-red-3tb-drives-x1-anker-usb-30-hub/
 
Here's my new setup on the way.    LIAN LI PC-V2120B Black Aluminum ATX Full Tower Computer Case
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811112311

 
Corsair CX Series 430 Watt ATX/EPS Modular 80 PLUS Bronze ATX12V/EPS12V 384 Power Supply CX430M
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00ALYORA4/

 
MSI Computer Corp. Motherboard ATX DDR3 1333 LGA 1150 Motherboards Z87-GD65 GAMING
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00D12OBYK

 
Corsair XMS3 8 GB (2 x 4GB) 1333 MHz PC3-10666 240-Pin DDR3 Memory Kit CMX8GX3M2A1333C9
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003N8GVUY/
 

 
 
Intel I3-4130T 2.90 3 LGA 1150 Processor BX80646I34130T
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00EUVEFEC
 

 
IO Crest SATA III 4 Port PCI-e 2.0 x1 Card with Low Profile Bracket (SI-PEX40064) Supports SMART
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00AZ9T3OU

Here's an older video review of the old one with USB 2.0, new one has USB 3.0

 
And of course my old parts will be transplanted.
x1
Crucial m4 128GB 2.5-Inch (9.5mm) SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Drive CT128M4SSD2
http://www.amazon.com/Crucial-128GB-2-5-Inch-9-5mm-CT128M4SSD2/dp/B004W2JKZI/

 
x11
WD Red 3 TB NAS Hard Drive: 3.5 Inch, SATA III, 64 MB Cache - WD30EFRX
http://www.amazon.com/WD-Red-NAS-Hard-Drive/dp/B008JJLW4M

 
 
I'm going to continue to run Windows 8.1 x64

Hello, I'm using drivepool on my 2012 R2 server with Essentials Experience role enabled and having difficulty with systembackup. I see the following messages in eventviewer when the backup is supposed to start:
 
Event12289, VSS:
 
Volume Shadow Copy Service error: Unexpected error DeviceIoControl(\\?\Volume{077cfcbb-1ed5-44c5-b960-5ff569f2e170} - 0000000000000170,0x0053c008,0000008D8BF10080,0,0000008D8B87D1D0,4096,[0]). hr = 0x80820001, The bootfile is too small to support persistent snapshots.
 
The mentioned volume is my pooldrive. On other volumes i'm having no problems with the VSS.
Drivepool ver 2.0.0.420

For those that are not as familiar with this topic or ... why you'd want to do this, let me quickly sum it up:
Control, speed, reliability. And Control.
 
I've been running pfSense for a while, as a custom router. Instead of a normal consumer router, such as a linksys or asus or belkin router. I've been happy because it gives me more options and more control over the network.
 
But between some performance issues with pfSense, and then it not booting back up... I've had to replace my router. I have a Linksys WRT610N v2.... but it's been less than stable. Wireless dies on it, and if I even try to enable QoS (Quality of Service, aka Traffic Shaping) or WMM (wireless QoS basically), it crashes my router. Hard. Every 10 minutes or so. 
 
So I did so looking and shopping. I found a very nice little box that is an Atom CPU, low powered, and supports 2 NICs. And I got a license from Sophos for Home/Free use. Installed it and set it up. Absolutely love it.
 
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16856205007
This is the box I got. IT doesn't come with RAM or drive, but I had both. 
And it idles at around 5-10% CPU usage.
 
If you're inclined on building your own router, then I highly recommend Sophos. It's a bit "draconian", but it has a great firewall built in. It also uses Squid I beleive to filter the traffic (and block things if needed), as well as to virus scan contents as you browse. Much like Untangle or pfSense. But it's all free, and requires a little more than a couple of clicks to setup.
 
For anyone interested, I've been writing about it here:
https://drashna.net/blog/2014/02/adventures-with-sophos/
 
 
 

Hi!
 
I know how it works switching from WHS2011 to 2012R2 in general, but i wonder what to do with my 12 mountpoints.
Do i have to create them manually or will DrivePool also handle them on installing?
 
 
Thanks in advance,
Alex

It looks like it won't be very long before 4K Native drives are available (E.g., http://www.storagereview.com/toshiba_announces_the_mg04_series_of_5tb_35inch_enterprise_hdds)
 
I am considering going to these drives (using Windows 8.x as it fully supports 4K Native) and would like to know if technically, Drivepool and Scanner support this 4K Native format?
 
Are there any issues, limitations or drawbacks preventing me from going this route with Stablebit products?
 
Thanks

Hello all!
 
Nice to (re)join everyone in the new forums, as I've been a long-time Drivepool user who never really had issues...at least until recently. Don't get me wrong, Drivepool is outstanding, but I have some questions with regards to building a new server, as my current/old one has died on me. (Forgive me for the long post, but I want to do this correctly and cost-effectively!)
 
A little history first. I was running an Acer Easystore H340 server which came with WHSv1. About 2 years ago, I upgraded it to WHS2011 and purchased the Drivepool Add-in, along with a Rosewill RSV-8(?) 8-bay external JBOD enclosure that used 2 eSATA connectors. Everything was working swimmingly. Just a few days ago, I started getting warnings from my SMART add-in that some drives were experiencing CRC errors and bad sectors. Due to concern, I started investigating, and in the end, it appears that my H340 PSU was dying, as the system no longer turns on, or spins up the fans. Rather than try to source a replacement PSU for the H340, since it is long in the tooth and has an Atom CPU, I have plans to build a 'real' WHS server.
 
So, I am leaning towards a Norco RPC-4220 chassis with mini-SAS connectors. I have never had the pleasure (or privilege) of messing around with SAS, so I have some concerns. Basically, I want to keep the JBOD type of setup and continue using Drivepool on top of a more robust I/O lane and system platform (Mobo/CPU/RAM). I already have about 14 SATA drives, and I'd like to continue using them. As far as I believe, the data on these drives is safe, and I understand I can install WHS2011 from scratch, add the Drivepool add-in, then power down and reinstall the HDDs, after which Drivepool should recognize them and add them to my (new?) pool.
 
My main question is if the Norco RPC-4220 and an SAS card that has a mini-SAS SFF-8087 will work together properly to support JBOD along with Drivepool. The controller card is my concern, as I am not sure which would be the best choice. I've narrowed it down to two semi-affordable ones without breaking the bank:
HighPoint RocketRAID 2720SGL PCI-Express 2.0 x8 Low Profile SATA / SAS Controller Card areca ARC-1320-8I PCIe 2.0 x8 Lanes MD2 Low Profile SAS 8 Ports PCIe 2.0 6Gb/s SAS Host Adapter LSI MegaRAID Internal Low-Power SATA/SAS 9240-8i 6Gb/s PCI-Express 2.0 RAID Controller Card, Kit 
As I understand it, the LSI may be the best bet, as I wouldn't mind paying more for reliability so as to avoid anything blowing up within the next 5-10 (if I'm lucky) years. Would each of these cards be able to work with the Norco chassis? There aren't a lot of good detail pics of the Norco, so I imagine that each backplane would have an SFF-8087 port that I would connect to one port on the controller. Thing is, if I want to support all 20 drives, would I not need either multiple controllers, or an SAS Expander? If one controller plus the SAS Expander would be the best route, can you recommend any SAS Expanders? Newegg would be ideal as a supplier so that I can get the entire shipment at once, but I'm relatively flexible here.
 
Afterwards, I would build everything up, and as I said, install WHS2011 + DrivePool, create a pool with a few blank HDDs, then power down and connect the rest of the drives, subsequently adding them to the new pool. I suppose I would need to re-create the shared folders first though correct? That shouldn't be a problem as I only had about 10-12.
 
I GREATLY appreciate any help/feedback you guys can give, as my server is completely offline and really hindering my home network as I used it for DNS/DHCP and a host of other services that ran.
 
Many thanks in advance!

Hi all --  I've been running the 2012E Trial for a good 9 months now which means it's been warning me to get a license for the last 3 months!  Sometime in the next few days, I'm going to take the plunge and migrate...  to be honest, I'm surprised the trial hasn't just stopped working yet. I thought I read it starts shutting down every few hours after you run past 180 days.
 
I have previously seen the Wiki article explaining the migration process from WHS2011 to 2012E (Here:  http://wiki.covecube.com/StableBit_DrivePool_Q5463715) but hadn't seen anything similar for 2012E to 2012ER2.  I know this must have been answered directly somewhere in these forums and I believe seeing the answer somewhere in the last several months, but I searched and didn't see a (direct question / answer) in the first several pages going back a few months...   Clearly in the FAQ, there's this...
 
Q. What happens if the entire machine crashes and I need to move my pool to another machine?That's easy. Just install StableBit DrivePool on the other machine and simply reconnect all of the disks that are part of the pool.
StableBit DrivePool will automatically recognize your old pool and spawn a new virtual drive with zero user configuration.
 
But that seems to (directly) address the same machine, same OS situation...  I'm pretty sure that's the process, but I figured I'd ask ask here first and very directly....  
 
What steps are required to migrate from Server 2012 Essentials to 2012 Essentials R2 (on the same hardware setup -- with the exception of the OS drive)?  
My Setup:
HP N54L Box
120GB SSD in optical drive bay running Server 2012 Essentials
No other data partitions on the OS SSD
3x 3TB WD Red Data drives -- Pooled using DrivePool V2 with full data replication
1x 1TB WD Green Drive attached via eSATA -- host VBox W7 VM to run some background media and data syncing processes...
1x 2TB WD Server Backup Drive 
My Plan
Update N54L BIOS to NEW Modded (German mod) HP Bios from Nov 2013 (to allow continued use of the optical bay SATA port for OS drive) Install Server 2012ER2 on NEW 120GM SSD attached to the optical bay SATA port...  (keeping 2012E install SSD drive safe -- just in case) Install DrivePool and Stablebit Scanner on S2012ER2 Question:  Do I connect the 3 pooled data drives before or after I install Drivepool?  I assume after (or it doesn't matter, but I figured I'd ask...)  
Is this correct?  Anything else I should be thinking about or need to know (DrivePool related or otherwise).  I did already review the WGS post where Drashna covered much of the key insights for the (non-expert) home server enthusiast upgrade... 
http://forum.wegotserved.com/index.php/topic/29178-faq-things-about-server-2012-r2-essentials-that-you-should-know-before-setting-it-up/
 
One last question I'll throw in here is (sorry if too OT for the DrivePool forums -- I'll edit to remove if needed):  
 
2.  On my current build, I'm using VirtualBox to run a W7 VM which runs:  Streambaby (Tivo Streamer), KMTTG (Tivo downloads process), Goodsync (Local data syncing / backup across a couple network computers), and EyeFi software which automatically downloads and stores pics from our Camera SD cards.  I may also evenutally spin-up either Plex or subsonic on that VM. What's my best approach in R2 for maintaining this functionality?  
Can I just open / run / migrate the existing VBox VM to a HyperV VM?   Start with a fresh W7 VM install on HyperV and reinstall / reconfigure (migrate config files) for my software? I've never set up / used HyperV.   Should I just stick with what I know and install VBox on 2012ER2 to run the existing VM?  (at least while I learn HyperV) Thanks,
 
John
 
 
 
 

In the User Manual for DrivePool 1.X there is a section entitled "Using Server Backup to Backup the Pool".
 
Looking at the 2.X manual I don't see a similar section.  Is the info from 1.X still relevant for 2.X?  Why was this deleted from the manual?
 
Or is there a different process for backing up drive when you are using DrivePool 2.X?

Based on the feedback from the community, here is how to get your ESXi Host to pass on SMART data for Scanner in your guest VMs.
 
All you need to do is the following and then any disk (not USB) you plugin in thereafter will be available for RDM:
In the ESXi Console window, highlight your server Go to the Configuration tab Under Software, click Advanced Settings Click RdmFilter Uncheck the box for RdmFilter.HbaIsShared Click OK  
 
Used the Advanced Settings for StableBit Scanner to enable "UnsafeDirectIo" to get the SMART data from the virtual controller:
http://wiki.covecube.com/StableBit_Scanner_Advanced_Settings
And make sure that "UnsafeDirectIo" is set to "True", and reboot.
*Note: UnsafeDirectIo is "unsafe" for a reason. It is possible that it can cause issues or glitches, or in extremely rare conditions it can cause BSODs. In a large majority of cases, these issues don't occur, but it is a possibility. So definitely "at your own risk".
 
 
 
Original Post:

Hi Guys,

I have a Dell Precision T3500 Workstation, that are running VMware ESXi 5.1.0. On this host i have created 2 virtual machines, both are Windows 2012 server standard. One of these are running Stablebit Scanner v. 2.4.0.2928.
 
My problem is, that it does not show SMART status, temperatures or anything for any of my drives. This i all the data i get (se picture). Is there something i need to install on my ESXi host, or is this just not possible on my setup, because i use VMware?


 
This i what i have on the host server:


 
Thank you in advance..
 

Ok, so as mentioned in another thread I'm currently replacing all my 2TB drives with 4TB ones. 
I connected Two new 4TB drives to the server and added them to the pool. I then told Drivepool to remove 3 of the 2TB drives. (It's pretty sweet that Drivepool lets you queue up this as I'm currently working nights, so all happening while I either work or sleep.)
 
So the first drive evacuated fine and the last one is doing its stuff now. However the second drive seemed to go ok and removed itself from the pool. Mousing over the now removed drive in (Server2012 R2 Essentials) Drivepool shows it as still having 1.18TB of used space. Worse still it's now giving me permission denied messages so I cannot actually check if the drive is empty.
 
Meanwhile in Windows Explorer the relevant mount point for the drive says there is only 184MB of data used. So probably empty after all.
 
So how do i get permissions for the drive to check this. I think I'm correct in thinking that Drivepool Utilities will not reset permissions unless the drive is part of the pool? 
If Windows Explorer is correct, is the false reporting in Drivepool a bug? 
Worse case scenario.... I know roughly how much data was on the three drives that I'm removing and can work on the basis that if there is roughly that amount of data on the new drives it went ok and its just a false alarm.
 
Thanks in advance.
Dave
 
Edit:
 
Cancel all that, bored at work I stopped the last drive migrating and rebooted the server. I have permissions back for the removed drives and they are indeed empty which Drivepool now correctly reports.   
 
But this then leads to something else...  
 
I have now decided that i really do not want two pools... What's the best method for getting rid of the second pool?
I'm guessing simply moving the server folders from Pool B to Pool A , via the dashboard ?   But Pool B is all my duplicated data. Will this complicate things? 
 
 
 
 .

Hi there.
 
I dont get any smart details from drives attached to a Adaptec 71605H (HBA) controller. Drives in question is Seagate ST4000VN000-1H41 4TB ones.
Updated controller to latest firmware https://www.adaptec.com/en-us/downloads/bios_fw/bios_fw_ver/productid=asa-71605h&dn=adaptec+71605h.html
 and tried changing UnsafeDirectIo to True but still no joy
 
Please advise.
 

What can I do when a damaged disk from drive scanner starts rebalancing in Drivepool?
 
I have recovered any files, but drivepool will not let me use any disks that have been "damaged" in the past. I have two 3-4tb drives with 332KB or so on each that was "damaged" that I recovered. When I add them back to drivepool it won'y copy to those drives.
 
THX,
Kurt

Hi,
 
like the topic says, got a question about feeder disks...
 
I use a Samsung 120GB ssd for the system disk (C:) and have WHS2011 installed.The WHS2011 occupies arround 24-30 GB right now, 10 % of the space is used for over provisioning, I would give the system another 25gb, that would leave me with something like 50gb free. Can I use that as a new partition in the pool for a feeder disk? Just as a landing zone? Will I gain something at all? Will it be worth the trouble? What would be the disadvantage?
 
Thanks for feedback,
Henning.