asdaHP

You could probably just restart the "Windows Server Essentials Storage Manager" service, I think it was.  And this may fix the issue, without a full reboot.
So duplicated data on the 2x4TB drives, and unduplicated data on the 8TB?  If so, that's doable (via the "Drive Usage Limiter" balancer, "manage pool" -> balancing -> "balancers" tab). 
But keep in mind that we don't keep track of originals and duplicates, so "duplicated" is all data that is duplicated, aka both copies.  
Unduplicated data is any data that isn't duplicated.
 

I bought an 8TB WD easystore external HD which has (and yes pretty much everyone knows this) a red drive EFAX (WDC WD80EFAX-68LHPN0). I ran the short and extended tests on HD sentinel and everything was fine.
 
Now when i left it attached to my server which has stablebit scanner, i received an email stating"
One or more disks are damaged and have data on them that is unreadable:
WD easystore 25FB USB Device - 344 KB unreadable (688 sectors) - The rest of the disk is still being scanned
Model: WDC WD80EFAX-68LHPN0"  
When i look at the sectors it is the very first block part of it is which is unreadable (Red color block). I did a file scan and that was normal. EDIT: The rest of the drive on the surface scan checked out completely normal.
 
Given that i didnt find something with HD sentinel, is this potentially a false alarm especially given its the first block? I vaguely remember having a similar issue nearly 9 months back on another external drive and it turned out a false alarm. There was something about using a beta rather than stable version of scanner. I am running currently 2.5.2.3103 beta. I forget what the return policy for BB is and if this is a real issue, id rather return it now than have to setup a warranty with HD.
 
thank you

Thank you!!

You're very welcome.  And we do try to explain stuff as best we can.  You never know when it will be helpful.
 
 
That said, the beta should detect when the Data Deduplication feature is enabled, and should disable itself automatically. 
 
But that said, just in case, I would recommend disabling manually, anyways.  This is to ensure that it is picked up properly. 
 
 
As for the dedup itself, you'd want to run it on both drives.  When StableBit DrivePool duplicates the files, it will grab the WHOLE file, not just part.   This means that if you enable deduplication on only one disk, then only one disk will have the optimized space. The other will use the full files. 
 
 
As for the bypassing?  No, we can't selectively disable the filters.
 
These filters are actually drives, and sit ontop of the file system.  We have no control.... Well almost no control. The options are "bypass all filters" or "normal access".  And this is handled by a kernel level IOCTRL command.  So that's why we don't have much control. 
 
And this is essentially "by design" in windows.  Because antivirus uses file system filters for real time production.  

No.  It will copy the entire file to the other disk.  However, that file may get dedup-ed in the same way.
 
The issue here, is how deduplication and our software works.  And this is part of why the beta vesion is "required", or you need to enable an advanced option.
 
Normally, our software bypasses all file system filters when accessing the underlying data.  This is boost performance (filters can cause serious slow down), and for compatibility (some filters freak out when the same file is being accessed repeatedly, and when one request isn't finished yet.... I'm looking at you, Avast). 
 
This is fine, usually.  However, the deduplication feature splits the contents. It creates a special reparse point out of the original file. It leaves non-redundant data attached to this file/reparse point hybrid object, and it puts all of the duplicate data into the "System Volume Information" folder (that same one used by VSS).   
 
Then when accessing files, it uses a file system filter to splice this data back together, in the right order. 
 
 
Now, as to why this is an issue:
Deduplication can't access the blocks of data on the Pool drive. So it just doesn't work.  StableBit DrivePool bypasses the file system filters on pooled disks, so you would only get partial (or no) data when accessing deduplicated data.   This is why you MUST disable the "bypass" option.  This way, the dedup filter can splice the data back together, properly.   
The beta version looks for the "dedup" filter, and automatically disables this "bypass file system filter" option on the pool, to prevent this from being an issue.
Additionally, the latest internal betas include some special handling when measuring the drive. 
 
 
Also, when balancing or duplicating the data, it will grab the spliced together data, as well.

Deduplication is a block based technology.  You CANNOT run it on the pool itself.   You must run it on the underlying disks.
 
The downside is that you won't save as much space this way, but you should still see a good chunk of savings.
 
 
That said, we don't officially support deduplication here, but we do accomidate for it.  The software should automaticlly disable the "bypass file system filters" option on systems with the Deduplication feature installed.  But it's worth checking to make sure it's disabled (Pool options -> performance).
 
 
 
As for Shared Folders themselves, you'd want to set them up on the pool itself.
 
As for the user defined folders being missing, I'm not sure about that.  If I had to guess, it was a timing issue.

Looks similar to the LSI card - there are a lot of manufacturer branded cards around that use the main controller of the lsi but may or may not take the bios from the LSI if thats what you were thinking
 
Check the hardware forums to see if anybody has already done it.
 
For 20 quid extra i went with a true LSI as i wanted it to just work initially as had trouble with other cards - not lsi based

.... I just right click the start menu button 90% of the time.

Hi @asdaHP
 
I went with 2012 RE2 because of lots of issues with raid cards under Win 10 and wanted something else to try - 2016 is a tad to shinny and new - and usually that means some issue with it being MS - and had six weeks of faffing around did not fancy anymore
 
Also if you look on ebay you can find Essentials 2012 for as low as £20 for the lic number - i got my first one at £80 and downloaded the technet preview version and installed and activated no problem
 
First impression is its stable and finds most things out of the gate with working drivers - what i dont like is the interface (part Win 8) and the way it forces you to the dashboard and makes finding some tools kind of difficult - i.e. several clicks to find computer management - to get to disk management - to map a drive. could be i have not found it in the dashboard but.....
 
Overall its a server version of windows and it will do what i need once i get used to the interface or change it so its more Win7 ish rather than win 8
 
If you do go Win 2016 - comeback and start a thread so we can see if you find it any better - not looked in detail but i did not see a huge feature set change?
 
T

yes build your own and get exactly what you want
 
They are building to a price point and want to ship large volumes 
 
If you were in the uk i could have given you one of my old ones - HAF 912 or Haf-x - great cases loads of fans and 10/13 drives respectively without getting to creative

Thanks. Yes ease of access vs privacy. Personally the info i am putting up unecrypted is the kind that i am not too worried about copyright, agency access etc but rather that someday i dont find family pics being used for an amazon ad without my permission.

My drives (two of them that is) are the HGST coolspin which are 5900 rpm. These run at 36-38. The other HGST is an ultrastar and runs a couple of degrees more. I have on my older mediasmart whs v1 WD reds and those seems to be cooler but i went with the HGST coolspin as they get good review in backblaze and admittedly were cheaper.
 
Eventually il probably switch out the current dell foxconn fan but i first need a 5 pin to 4 pin converter which i just ordered on ebay...
thanks

Thanks drashna,
My issue is confirming if the mini sas to dual sas cable plus power which came with perc h310 is equivalent to a forward breakout cable ( part T3F4V eg http://www.ebay.com/itm/DELL-CABLE-MINI-SAS-TO-2-DUAL-SAS-AND-POWER-CABLE-T3F4V-/141648332793
I have already flashed the perc to LSI 9211 using mattr's page. What i dont understand is why i cant see the sata drive that i connected to the card with the above cable. If it sounds like the cable is faulty, i will order a sas to 4 sata cable like you and earlier spider 99 suggested but wanted to confirm.
 
 
EDIT>>> Tested on server 2012 r2 and drive is detected by same cable. So cable and card work. Probably a win 10 or dell t5600 issue. Also drivepool and scanner are seeing the drive.