GDog

Shane: Hi, and thanks for your help! The answer as to whether I am using any part of my system drive as part of the Pool, is NO - Never. My System Drive has never been anything other than the System Drive. It is a 300GB WD Raptor partitioned into a 160GB C-Part and the remainder as a D-Part. The D-Part has always shown up as being available to add to the Pool, but I have never done it. I was planning to either run the Restore from Windows > Macrium Reflect App, which if memory serves me, sets up a special Boot path and then requires a Reboot of the PC, ... OR, I could just boot from the Restore USB I created inside Macrium Reflect. Which of these choices do you think would be best - or maybe it doesn't matter. Running Macrium Rescue from inside Windows is a lot faster and less prone to boot issues I think. I had NOT planned on disconnecting the Drives, just doing the Restore and Rebooting. Is there anything I need to do to make sure I don't lose any data? Thanks Shane, Gary

Hi All, I am running WHS2011, 92TB Server, 65TB used, 98% Duplicated, 29 Physical Disks, DrivePool v2.2.2.934. I need to RESTORE my System Drive from a Macrium Reflect Image done about a week ago to resolve an issue unrelated to DrivePool or the Pool, that cannot be resolved any other way. My question is if I do that, can DrivePool recover from this and get my Pool back to where it was without any loss of Data saved after the Restore image? Also, is there any specific procedure I need to follow to prevent Data loss, like disconnecting all drives beforehand etc etc.? Thanks for any help, Gary

Mick Mickie: Thanks for jumping in Mick! Christopher just said "Crashes", so I thought the "Fix" might not help me. I don't usually upgrade to Beta versions of anything, but in this case I think I might make an exception. I was just upgrading to sort of get away from the built-in wssx versions in preparation for my upcoming move to Server 2016 Essentials. Again, thanks! Gary

Thanks for getting back to me. However: I don't think my WHS2011 system has EVER crashed - not once!. It hung up once, but it was MY fault. I only reboot it when the MS Updates tell me I have to. I did't lose just SOME of my Disk settings, I lost ALL of them - 100%! Do you still think that cause would apply to me? Gary

Christopher: So do you have any other ideas I can try? I really do not want to, nor should I have to, re-do everything at each upgrade, don't you agree? Thanks Christopher, Gary

Hi Christopher! I tried that already but there is no JSON folder in the .wssx version I upgraded FROM. I discovered your thread from July 2018 AFTER I posted this, sorry about that. Gary

Last night, I decided to upgrade from Scanner 2.5.1.3062 (wssx) to Scanner 2.5.4.3216 (exe). At first, the install failed and told me I needed to UN-install the prior version before I could proceed with the upgrade to 2.5.4.3216 (exe). So I did this from the Dashboard (Remove Add-in). Afterward, it did not ask me to reboot, so I didn't, thinking my current configs would more likely be preserved than if I did. The RE-Reinstall went OK with no errors and it reported the install as "Successful". After running the new version for the first time, I immediately noticed that ALL (100%) of my Disk Settings were GONE - the Custom Names and Locations, which I had painstakingly created so I could tell my disks apart from one another. This is important, since (1) I have 27 Disks, (2) most of my disks are WD Reds and (3) my old Supermicro PCI-X controllers are not reporting the correct serial numbers using the Sonnet driver I must use with them to allow disks greater than 2TB. I have always relied on Scanner to be able to locate the correct Disk that might need to be removed! I would seriously like to NOT have to go through that whole process again, SO ... is there any way to recover this information BACK into Scanner? PLUS, I am concerned that this is now going to happen every time I upgrade to a newer version. Is it? Thanks in advance for any help you might be able to provide. Really appreciate it! Gary

Hello everyone! I was recently given a brand new WD MyCloud EX4 4-Bay NAS, already populated with 4 x brand new 3TB WD Red HDD's (NASware 3.0). I can always just pull the drives and install them in some of my other available slots, and sell the NAS Box or utilize it in some other way. But ... my main server box of 15 drives is already full, as is also my only decent exterior storage box of 5 more drives. The only available space I have (if I don't find a way to utilize the WD Box), is an open & exposed 5-Bay Sans Digital Hard Drive Rack that I set up to be just a temporary facility until I could find something better. It only has one drive in it at present, so it could hold all 4 of the drives from the WD NAS box if need be, However, I would REALLY like to utilize this very nicely constructed WD NAS Box, preferably as-is. Its only method of external communication is Ethernet without me hacking on it to make it SAS compatible, like I did with my AMS NAS Box (see signature details). The WD MyCloud manual says I can configure 1 or all 4 of the drives in JBOD mode. SO ... I could do that and put the box on my Network. What I don't know is if I utilize the drives this way, will DrivePool even SEE them at all? And if DP does see them, will it see them as 4 separate drives, as I would prefer, or just as one 12TB drive? OR ... is there some specific way to set this up such that DP can see and control the drives in the WD Box as if they were 4 separate drives? Also, all my Pooled drives are mounted like: "Disk01", "Disk02", "Disk19" etc. Naturally I would prefer to be able to do the same for the drives in the WD NAS Box. Would this be possible? Here are some information Links for this WD NAS Box: Overview Manual Specifications Knowledge Base Shares Online User Guide & Solutions I have spent hours pouring through the WD knowledge base, and various Forums (mostly this one) and I cannot find anything that addresses this specifically. I suspect that what I want can't be done, because (as far as I can see), the only way to access a specific drive behind this NAS Box is to MAP it, which has all the limitations associated with that. I hope I'm wrong, but given my very limited knowledge on this subject, it looks like to me that I might have to do essentially the same thing I did with my AMS NAS Box. This would mean bypassing the NAS electronics portions of the Box and install a SAS 8087-to-8088 adapters to connect the drives semi-directly to the controllers in the main chassis, using something like THIS or THIS and THIS and THIS. Is there such a thing as an Ethernet to SAS converter? (JK) Or maybe, depending on what you guys tell me, I might just keep the drives, sell the Box and buy a more suitable Multi-HDD chassis. I don't know what to do. If anyone has any experience with doing this or any knowledge, I sure would greatly appreciate some advice. Thanks so much, Gary (GDog)

Thanks Christopher! I should have thanked you sooner, but I had trouble logging onto the Forums AGAIN! Sorry. Gary

Just a quick question here, I promise. Basis: I do not operate my Server headless. When I am logged onto the Server directly as Administrator, in File Explorer, in the Navigation pane, I can see my ‘Local Disk C:’ Drive and the (2nd partition) ‘Local Disk D:’ drive like when I log onto any other PC. BUT, I can ALSO see another drive that seems to have been created by DrivePool. I am assuming it is a "Virtual" Pooled Drive. In my case it is named the ‘Local Disk S:’ Drive. There are only 3 folders in the ‘S:’ drive: the ‘Recycle’ Folder, the ‘System Volume Information’ Folder and a Folder named ‘ServerFolders’. I can open ‘ServerFolders’ from Explorer and I can see all the Server Shares or Folders. Until recently, I have left this ‘S:’ Drive alone thinking it was something I shouldn’t mess with directly. Recently however, I have experimented with Reading and Writing to Folders in those Shares with no apparent problems. Doing it this way seems to bypass the network and feels significantly faster that doing the same operations from another PC accessing the shares over the network. When I setup Macrium Reflect to backup images of my Server Hard Drive (C: & D: ), I set Reflect to write the backup images directly to the assigned Folder and it seems to be working perfectly. My question is this: Is it safe, advisable or doesn’t matter to Read, Write and Move files around my shares by accessing them this way directly from the Server and not through the Network? Am I causing any problems or issues with DrivePool or my data by doing it like this? Thanks everyone! -GDog

@Christopher (Drashna) Well, not completely. I am still left wondering about these things... Windows 10 as a Server questions: 1. Licensing: You brought up a change that put the user in violation of the EULA if it is used as a “Server”, per se’. If I go this route in spite of this, am I going to run into Activation problems initially OR down the road? 2. Dashboard: Would I have use of a “Dashboard” like in WHS2011 where I can see all my Drives and Shares together on the same page? 3. Drive Mounting: Will I be able to mount my drives into Folders like WHS2011 allows? Related to this: Are there any limits as to the number of Drives I can have attached? 4. Hardware: Are there any restrictions as to what kind of Hardware I can use? Specifically, a lot of my Hardware is SERVER HW, like my Motherboard, SATA cards & Expanders etc. Are any of these forbidden? Am I going to be able to get DRIVERS for all this Server HW? 5. SB Scanner: I absolutely want to be able to run this Add-in. I'm running DrivePool 2.x now as a standalone, and I am OK with it. However, I don't see that with Scanner. My version is 2.5.3062, which I think *IS* the latest one. But it ONLY comes up within the WHS2011 Dashboard, nowhere else. If I go to Win10 Pro, how would I continue with Scanner? Is there a version that will run as a standalone? 6. Third Party Guides: Terry Walsh has published an updated eBook as a Guide to doing this: "BUILDING A WINDOWS 10 HOME SERVER - ANNIVERSARY UPDATE EDITION". However, it is somewhat pricey for an eBook ($16) and I wanted to know what YOU thought about it beforehand. I know you are unhappy with him about the way he handled the Forum shutdown (so am I), but if it is a worthwhile publication then I can overlook my issues with that somewhat. Plus, I am sure you have heard about it, but have you READ it? If not, do you know anyone who HAS read it whose opinion you would/could trust? Is it worth it for someone like me to buy this book and setup his Win10 Server using it as a Guide? If not Terry’s guide, then can you recommend another one I could use so I don’t have to keep pestering you with my incessant questions? These are just the few questions/issues I was able to conjure up on the spur of the moment here. I am sure there will be more as I get further into this project. Thanks so much Christopher! I *do so* appreciate all that you do here to not just support us, but provide genuine HELP! -Gary

Definitely you. I'm not at all agitated. I was just trying to express another way of looking at it. I knew when I wrote it however, that sometimes it can APPEAR that way, so I actually tried to avoid that in the way I wrote it. Maybe I didn't do such a great job with that, but rest assured I am NOT agitated. I'm also not bashful or timid. When I *am* agitated, and I want you to know it, you will, without any doubt. I am looking hard at this option. It seems to be the best, most economical option for people like me (and maybe you) that just want a Home Media Server without any fancy Server features. Terry Walsh wants $16 for his latest iteration of his book: "BUILDING A WINDOWS 10 HOME SERVER - ANNIVERSARY UPDATE EDITION", but I would like to hear what someone here has to say about it before I drop the coin on it. IOW: is it WORTH the money, or can I assemble the information myself from various articles published on the Web Re this subject. Plus, I am still more than a little irritated at the way Terry handled shutting down that very excellent "We Got Served" Forum, and I am not sure I want to give him any support in his eBook efforts. What if I buy this version of that eBook and a few months later he releases an updated version? Would I have to spend the entire amount AGAIN? I'm not comfortable that Terry would handle that in an "I care about my supporters" way, if you know what I mean. I tried W10 when it first came out and didn't like the new UI AT ALL! Up to now, I have avoided it like the Plague. The *ONLY* reason I am considering it now is because of its apparent ability to act as a sort of "Pseudo-Home Server". But I have some questions about this. @Christopher (Drashna): I asked you some questions about W10 in my reply to your reply to me (above), but you never addressed them for me. I would appreciate it if you could shed some more SPECIFIC light on this "W10 as a Server" thing, as I am still hanging on whether to go this route or just stay with a REAL Server OS. It is unlikely however, that I would ever do anything of a highly advanced nature with my Server OS. Thanks, -Gary

Well, this is confusing at best. There HAS to be more to this than what we are seeing and interpreting here. On the one hand, MS is selling a Server OS that allows 25 users, 50 devices and no CALs required. Then, out of the other side of their mouth, they are allowing only TWO of those 25 users to be logged in at the same time? That would mean that the other 23 users had to sit and wait until one of the two already allowed logs out before they can log in. Huh? This would also mean that there is no solution for this, since the Essentials version does not support or deal with CAL’s at all. There would be no way to expand the maximum number of concurrent users. Huh? Where's the value? This makes no sense AT ALL! Why would anyone pay $4-500 for such an Operating System? Who would want it? Who could make any use of it? Just myself and my Family of 3 other users would hit that wall straight away! If this is true, then it’s a deal-breaker for me as well. Given that however, I don’t know where to go beyond WHS2011. There MUST be more to it that we are not seeing or not aware of. Christopher (Drashna)! Can you shed some light on this conundrum please?

Umfriend: I do actually use WHS for client backups, I said it’s just not the one I RELY on, that’s really all. Reason is because WHS has failed to restore about half of the PC’s I have asked it to do. Macrium Reflect has NEVER let me down. In addition, this way I have 2 sets of backups, which can’t hurt except for the drive space required to have it. BTW: Regarding the backup thing, consider this: Macrium Reflect is fully network aware, and full or incremental image backups can be scheduled to happen automatically, in the background, at any degree of bandwidth, at any chosen time, written to any network share or connected PC, with post-backup verifications and terminations. All this is in the FREE version. The Paid version allows differential and file backups as well. So, if backup is the only reason YOU are using WHS2011, then I ask you: Why are YOU using it? Also, don’t forget that WHS2011 was WAY CHEAP compared to these newer Server OS’s. If you recall, it was never sold as a Retail package. You could buy it in the retail channel (I bought my copy through Newegg for like ~$50), but it was only ever intended to be sold to entities that manufactured their PC’s as OEM's. This could describe me and every PC I have ever owned except for the Laptops. At the time, $50 was about 1/3 the cost of any other OS MS was selling. As far as what I use it for, besides the secondary backups, I just use it mostly as a Media Server to stream my collections of Music, Movies and Misc Videos. It is by far the most stable OS I have ever had. Each of my Family members has their own Shares, but I am not sure what they are using those for beyond storage of mostly their music. Are you saying that I can do these things just as effortlessly with any MS Desktop OS??? I never really considered that, but I might now if we can’t resolve this concurrent user thing brought up by Jaga!

I don't understand all this talk about CAL's. I went to the Microsoft site and found this: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/cloud-platform/windows-server-pricing It CLEARLY states that the Essentials version of Server 2016 allows 25 users and 50 devices with NO CALs REQUIRED. Am I missing something here? If so, please enlighten me. Gary

It's still getting security updates for the underlying OS (Server 2008R2), but not for the WHS components (which may still be an issue). So if you're using the Anywhere Access (remote access) website, that may be an issue. Personally, I'm using 2012R2 Essentials. I'm not using the Anywhere Access, and do not plan to, so I guess I'm off the hook somewhat? Are you planning to go to 2016 Essentials anytime soon? The W10 Pro option sounds intriguing. The backups I really rely on, I do outside of WHS2011 using Macrium Reflect. I just store the backup files on the Server. Using W10 Pro confuses me though, as it is NOT a Server OS. I have read in these Forums authoritive statements by several users that they plan to use W10 Pro *AS* their Server OS in Lieu of a Server OS per se'. Could you give me a little more detail as to exactly WHAT makes this a good SERVER OS option? Like how does W10 handle USERS (how many etc), SHARES. Are there limits? And what about this "CAL" thing Jaga is talking about? W10 Pro limited to only ONE??? I am sooo confused about this. All of our products will install a dashboard tab, actually. But they are "stand alone tabs" and not as integrated with the dashboard. I'm running DrivePool 2.x now as a standalone. However, I don't see that with Scanner. My version is 2.5.3062, which I think *IS* the latest one. It ONLY comes up within the WHS2011 Dashboard. If I go to say Win10 Pro, how would I continue with Scanner? Is there a version that will run as a standalone? Thanks Christopher! Gary

Thanks for your response, Umfriend! That's sorta where I'm at right now too. But I'm just starting to get the "bug" for something new. Kind of like a new car thing. Well, I surely am NOT a fan of the W10 GUI, that's for sure. However, do we automatically ASSume the Server version will have a similar GUI? I don't know as I have never sat in front of a machine running Server 2016 Essentials. Can someone help out with a description here maybe? Drashna has confirmed this already, so maybe that will make WSE2016 a little bit easier for me to swallow. Christopher, can you comment on this? I don't know much about Domains either, except to NAME one. How simple WOULD WSE2016 be to use compared to WHS2011? My server is in fact left on 24/7, but I don't know what difference that makes in this regard. Gary

Hello everyone! With the reliability and density of today's spinning drives getting better all the time, and since I am now using DrivePool 2.x (works with any version of Windows), I've been thinking about leaving WHS2011, especially now that MS has ended support for it. I recently purchased a much more modern Supermicro motherboard than my current X7SBE that can use the more modern i3, i5 and i7 CPU's and up to 32GB DDR3 RAM. When I install this board, I am planning to finally ditch the 2 PCI-X, 8-Port SATA cards in favor of the newer PCIe cards in conjunction with 1 or more port expanders. I am sure this has probably been discussed here ad‑nauseam, but everyone’s situation is relatively unique, so I will forge ahead, fishing for ideas, comments, tips, tricks or whatever you think I need to know. The only super relevant post I could see in a quick search was a very short post by RacerX back in March. I’m going to need a little more hand-holding than he does to get this done. When I purchased the newer motherboard, I had originally intended to just upgrade the hardware, downsize a bit and continue with WHS2011. Now, I am thinking that might not be the best decision. I was planning to construct a secondary server alongside the WHS2011 box anyway, and move the drives over after I get the new server running stable. This would include reinstalling the Server OS. So why not just install a better OS instead? Shouldn’t be that much more effort, right? At least that is what I am thinking. This is where I need some coaching. So along those lines, I have a few questions/issues I hope some of you might be kind enough to help me with: 1. Firstly, is anyone here still using WHS2011, and if so how much longer are you planning to stick with it? How are you handling the security issues by using an OS that has not been updated in over a year now? Are you concerned? If not, why? 2. I have read that Windows Server Essentials is what I should consider. Which version would be best for me? I am still planning to run several pieces of hardware that might not be Windows 10 compatible, an OS I am not a fan of at all! Also, there is PRICE. I don’t think the budget will handle a $600 or $700 OS acquisition cost. I think 2012 is quite a bit cheaper than 2016, but I am not 100% certain about that. I’m thinking Server 2012 would probably be the best choice, but what do you guys think? 3. What major features would I be giving up that I had in WHS2011, and what would I be gaining by going to WS Essentials? Does Essentials have a Dashboard like in WHS2011? 4. Most Important: How does DrivePool and Scanner interface with Essentials? Is it similar to WHS2011 or will they BOTH run as standalone products ONLY? Thanks everyone! Really appreciate your input. I’m sure I will probably have more questions as I get further into this, but this is what is on my mind right now. GDog

Hey Jaga! Let me see if I can address all the NEW issues you have introduced: All I know for certain is both of the AOC-SAT2-MV8 cards are the latest ones produced by SM: Hardware Rev 3. I always assumed they had the latest firmware, but I never actually checked. I spent a couple of hours this morning trying to figure out how to ascertain the FW versions without rebooting the Server. Do you know a way to do this? I know sometimes it is possible to see the FW version as it scrolls by at boot time. The Server is tied up at the moment with HD Sentinel running some rather lengthy HDD diags - like several days to complete! It has already been running for over 24-hours and if I interrupt it, I have to start it all over again from the beginning. I downloaded the FW files at the Link you provided and it matched what I already had, so I have to believe I most likely have the latest FW's already. That's true, but the card will work fine in Server2008 R2 (WHS2011) up to 2TB drives with the latest driver from SM. However, I am using the 2-yrs newer Sonnet driver, which will support AF Drives up to ??TB (largest drives I am using are 4TB and those work fine). There are caveats however, if you want to RE-read my original post. The Sonnet driver obviously takes care of this as well. This is interesting, and something I hadn't thought about. However, I am pretty sure all my drives are simple SATA, not SAS. Sonnet drive works with all of them. I am using it to drive 2TB, 3TB and 4TB Drives. I agree. THAT was pretty much the entire basis of my original post. That's exactly what I have been trying to ascertain here - will the HP Expander card work with the AOC-SASLP-MV8, and will the combo play nice with DrivePool and Scanner???? I strongly disagree with your assertion that the AOC-SASLP-MV8 is extremely old - old YES, extremely NO. I bought it brand new at Newegg less than 4-years ago. With my current MOBO, I can't use the AOC-SAS2LP-MV8 anyway, because it needs a PCIe 8x slot. I only have ONE 4x slot and ONE 8x slot and the Expander needs the 8x slot, so I have to use a Controller card that runs in a 4x slot. The AOC-SASLP-MV8 is the best value choice presently. This card handles AF HDDs very nicely with the 4.2 Driver. Anyway, speed is not a major concern for me as my server is just a Media Server, not a Transactional or Gaming Server. The only major difference between the AOC-SASLP-MV8 and the AOC-SAS2LP-MV8 is the AOC-SASLP-MV8 is SATA II and the AOC-SAS2LP-MV8 is SATA III, which NEEDS the PCIe 8x slot's higher bandwidth to deliver SATA III. I don't need it. After I find a new mainboard that I can run my already owned Intel Core i5 CPU that has the necessary slots, I can always ditch the AOC-SASLP-MV8 then. If you have any suggestions in this area, I would certainly like to hear them? Look at my Signature, Jaga. You will see that 95% of my Server parts are SuperMicro, not some cheap Chinese knockoffs. It's just that not everything is the latest rendition, that's all. Most of my drives are NAS drives, WD Reds & some Seagates. Also a couple of HGST and Toshiba Enterprise drives I scored at a really good price. There are no really cheap, standard Desktop drives in my system except for a couple of leftover WD Greens that just won't die. Even still, after they become 5-years old or older, I first tell DrivePool to NOT put anything on those drives that is NOT duplicated on another drive. Then if they live another year or two, I pull them anyway and use them for archival , temporary diagnostic or cloning drives. Regarding my "budget", unlike some here, it is not unlimited or even what I would call High! I need to be able to GROW my machines piece-by-piece. This is why backward compatibility issues are at least temporarily important to me. Eventually, I wind up with something pretty good. Sometimes, by then, the first pieces have gotten kind of dated, but that's just something I have to put up with at least for a while. You should have seen my FIRST Windows Home Server! You would REALLY laugh! I'm on my 3rd Revision now. I really appreciate your help Jaga! However, I am still left with needing to know if I can successfully use the AOC-SASLP-MV8 / HP Expander combination in my WHS2011 / DrivePool / Scanner Server without major issue. GDogTech

Thanks Jaga! You were correct, system is JBOD only and it is already running in AHCI mode anyway. New drivers might just be a temporary fix anyway since my preference might be to just get rid of those PCI-X cards since they won't likely run in many of the newer Server boards (which I will need to run PLEX), and just convert to the PCIe card with the HP expander. This is my secondary reason for wanting to do that. I am just not sure I can make that combination work in my WHS2011 system with DP & Scanner. Gary

Which one, the Drive Deal or my Post? SAY, Christopher: Would you mind taking a read of my latest post in the DrivePool > General forum and give me your thoughts and/or recommendations? Appreciate it very much! Gary

Sorry for the Length, I trimmed it best I could ... Hi everyone! I’ve scoured the forums for some resolution to this Hardware issue, but I cannot find anything. My Server specs are in my Footnote and it is up to date. I already own and am currently using one of the SuperMicro AOC-SASLP-MV8 controllers: https://www.supermicro.com/products/accessories/addon/AOC-SASLP-MV8.cfm This controller is working perfectly for me in my WHS2011 Server, handling Advance Format HDDs just fine up to 4TB (largest I have at present). My Server Motherboard is the SM X7SBE. It has (besides 2 x 133Mhz PCI-X and 2 x 100MHZ PCI-X slots) 1 x 4x PCIe slot and 1 x 8x PCIe slot. I am running 2 x SM AOC-SAT2-MV8 Controllers in the 133MHz PCI-X slots. These seem to be working fine with some caveats. In order to use AF HDD’s over 2TB, I am forced to use the Sonnet Driver v4.2.0.0 dated 5/11/2010. 1. This driver does not report the correct Serial Number for the Drives: Example, Serial Number: WMC301385641 becomes: MW3C10836514 The Controller is DISLEXIC, reversing every 2 characters. Very strange. 2. Also, it assigns the Serial Number for the drive connected to Port 0 on the card, to every drive connected to that same Controller Card. While DrivePool seems to handle this “Problem” without creating any additional issues of its own, I do not handle it very well at all. The AOC-SASLP-MV8 Controller has none of these issues. My goals are to solve these 2 issues ASAP and prepare for a Media Center move to PLEX in the near future, which will require more CPU power and a newer Server Mainboard. I need to do all of these things with as little cash investment as possible. This brings me to my questions for the experts on this Forum: 1. Does anyone know a way to solve these Serial Number issues without ditching the PCI-X controller cards? I may get rid of them anyway if answers to the following questions are workable. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NOTES: I have read on the HardForum that the AOC-SASLP-MV8 is compatible with the HP SAS Expander, which is currently available on eBay dirt cheap, like $15-$20, some including Cables! Here is the Forum Link: https://hardforum.com/threads/hp-sas-expander-owners-thread.1484614/page-51#post-1039192861 This link will take you to page 51 in the thread, because one of the posts there deals with using this combination on a WHS2011/DrivePool machine specifically. It is not hard to navigate from there if you want to however. Here are links for a couple of these cards listed on ebay. Both from China sellers, but with very high Feedback scores (you can get a US seller for just a few dollars more however): Brand New: https://www.ebay.com/itm/New-HP-SAS-Expender-Card-24-Port-SAS-PCI-E-Expander-Board-468405-001/191976718410?hash=item2cb2b4404a:g:N70AAOSwPCVX4pxE With Cables: https://www.ebay.com/itm/HP-468406-B21-24-Bay-SAS-Expander-Card-2-x-SAS-Cables-70CM-487738-001-468405-002/272991770425?hash=item3f8f93d739:g:wHQAAOSwTQtaO8PH ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2. The compatibility of this HW combination with DrivePool and Scanner on the WHS2011 machine is not fully resolved in the HardForum thread, so I am trying to determine if this would be a workable solution for me to consider? In other words, can I put this Expander in my available PCIe-8x slot, and will it work with the AOC-SASLP-MV8 AND, besides giving me all the HDD connections I need for now, would it likely solve the Serial Number issues, since ALL my HDDs would now be controlled by the single AOC-SASLP-MV8? 3. Does anyone know of any Firmware or Driver version issues that I might need to be aware of or that might cause other issues? 4. Has anyone used this Expander before? What problems did you have? What do I need to watch out for? Is this change simpler than it looks? Am I missing something here? Is this a much more common thing to do than I am currently aware of? I would sure like to hear some stories from some of you guys here that are using Covecube’s products. I do not wish to, nor am I willing to give up the benefits of using DrivePool and/or Scanner – NO WAY, not gonna happen! I am just concerned that I might be getting myself into something that will not work, or that I do not have the skills to make work, that’s really all this is. Thanks so much for anyone who might be able to help me with this. MUCH appreciated! Gary GDogTech

Hello everyone: Not sure if this is the correct Forum for this, but I just wanted to let you all know about what I consider to be a fantastic deal on some 4TB Drives at Newegg. Drashna, you can move it if you need to. To save everyone’s time, I’ll just give you the stats: · Brand: Toshiba · Model: MD04ACA400 (Bare Drive) · Capacity: 4TB · Size: 3.5” · Speed: 7200RPM · Connection: SATA 6.0Gb/s · Cache: 128MB · Warranty: 5-Years from Toshiba · Seller: Newegg · Item Number: N82E16822149644 (Newegg) · Shipping: Free, 3-Day Fed-Ex · Price: $93.49 (That’s $23.37 per TB, Delivered!) IMPORTANT: When you do a Search for the drive on Newegg’s site, do so using only the Newegg Item Number. The drive does not come up with an ordinary search, but the same model from GoHardDrive.com DOES come up for $93.00 or so with a 3-year warranty. If you want, you can just try this direct link to the Newegg offering: https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822149644 Newegg says they are discounting the drive from $205.99 (55%). I found the Newegg offering quite by chance after I had to return BOTH the drives I purchased from GoHardDrive.com due to numerous bad sectors right out of the package. ALSO, the GoHardDrive units have Manufacturing dates 18-24 Months ago and GoHardDrive is providing the warranty themselves. The Newegg drives I purchased were made in Feb, 2018. I just finished running them through extensive testing and they are both in Perfect 100% Health with no errors at all. I have verified the 5-Year warranty by Serial Number directly on Toshiba’s website. Here’s the link for that (not easy to find): https://myapps.taec.toshiba.com/myapps/admin/jsp/webrma/addRequest1NoLogin.jsp?Action=NEW These seem to be good quality drives. When I bought them, Newegg was advertising them as Enterprise Drives. I already knew they weren’t however and I bought them anyway. 5-Years is a SUPERB Warranty! Now in the new listing, they dropped “Enterprise” and just say “Good for Servers”. Hope I’m not wasting your time. I did do a search on the Forum to make sure no one had already said something and I didn’t see anything. If you’re interested, don’t dally on it. Enough people already do know about them that they are selling like crazy. Newegg told me they are already on their second order of 10,000 drives! Hope this helps someone, GDog

Hi Christopher, I tried rebooting again. Only this time, I power cycled to get a RAM Diag. System booted fine, but not a single thing changed from my other attempts to install. The .EXE Setup generated another LOG file, which I will attach here. StableBit_Scanner_20170925123726.log So what do I do now? Any ideas? Thanks for helping, Gary PS: Would you prefer that I open a Support Ticket on this issue? You seem to be getting a little tired of this thread.

Well, I've done that 3 times so far, but I will try it again. This time I will power down and power back up. I've seen that make a difference sometimes. I'll let you know the results here. Thanks, Gary