Christopher (Drashna)

If you're not familiar with it, it definitely can be intimidating. However, I actually did a podcast with PCDoc (from Home Server Show's BYOB podcast) where I talk about Server 2012 Essentials. It's not as scary as it seems: http://homeservershow.com/byob-episode-139.html Absolutely. It caches the domain login after you've logged in once. And you can still log into local accounts on the system, as well. And yes, it gets you remote desktop, and the Anywhere Access site gives you a VPN (SSTP by default) and Remote Desktop Gateway (allows you to remote into the computer from anywhere basically). Additionally, the domain stuff allows you to do stuff like "Folder Redirection" where your user folders are on the network, and shared between different computers (using the same user account). And it sets the folders up (by default) to use offline file syncing, so that you can access the files even if you're not on the network. Additionally, you can opt out of using the domain setup entirely, if you want. Either "leave" the domain after connecting the computer, or skip that part entirely, by using the following link: http://www.tinkertry.com/ws2012e-connector/

It's not a problem at all. Hopefully, alex can get to the issue soon.

As for the MSR/EFI partition, that should be okay, IIRC. They're hidden partitions. And DrivePool should see and use the Logical partitions just fine. As for the disks without Volume IDs... well, all volumes should have an ID, it's weird that it doesn't. Try rebooting and see if that helps. As for the non-pooled disks, add them to the pool. It doesn't format the disk or touch it. And then seed it. http://wiki.covecube.com/StableBit_DrivePool_Q4142489 If this is for the dynamic disks, move the data off of the drive... and delete the partitions. Then add it to the pool. Unfortunately, there isn't a good alternative to this, if you're not able to convert the disks.

Ah, so yeah, the more cores the CPU has the better. And no, lower clock speed doesn't mean that much anymore. Because most everything (ironically except most games) are designed to be multithreaded, the more threads you can have (cores/hyperthreading), the more work can get done. Especially with animation or any sort of rendering. The program can render multiple frames in different cores at the same time, finishing the product much quicker than if you just had one core with a lot higher clock speed. And if you want to see how much it makes a difference, Linus Tech Tips has a nice video showcasing a review Xeon E5-2699v3, I think it was (18 core @ 2.3 GHz CPU!!! but it's like $4500).

Well, they have cheaper CPUs. They have CPUs for about $200, but it depends on what you want/need. For instance: Intel Xeon E5-2603 v3 http://amazon.com/dp/B00M1BUY7K/?tag=extension-kb-20 It's any Haswell (or "higher") Xeon E5 ("v3") CPU. So it really depends on how many cores you want/need. Also, keep in mind that these CPUs do have hyperthreading, so they have double the listed value. (In most cases). As for how fast? They're as good or better than the Core i7 processors. So it depends on the work load you'll be using. Even the Xeon E3's are fantastic in most cases. I would also check SuperMicro's tested memory list, to ensure you get RAM that will definitely work. As for overclocking, you're using a Xeon. They don't overclock well.

Yup, exactly. Though, instead of no mount point (drive letter, etc), we do recommend mounting the disk to a folder: http://wiki.covecube.com/StableBit_DrivePool_Q4822624 This removes the letter and declutters the drive list, but allows you full access to the drives if you need it (such as manually running a chkdsk pass).

As for the Oplock issue, that definitely means that the files are locked by something. Something is accessing them, and locking the files. Depending on what is installed and running on the system, something could be indexing the files. Such as Windows Search, or your HTPC's screensaver accessing the files. As for the permissions, that's ... odd. If you can reproduce the issue, could you enable logging and do so? http://wiki.covecube.com/StableBit_DrivePool_2.x_Log_Collection Also, could you check the permissions of the folders/files on the different disks? (in the hidden PoolPart folders) and make sure they're the same?

No, it won't assign the same drive letters, unfortunately. You'll have to manually change them. As for the pooled drives, I'm not sure, but I do believe that it should not re-assign letters to the drives (IIRC, there is a "flag" on the volume that prevents this from happening, even on a different machine).

Todd, Thank you for grabbing the logs. I've flagged them for Alex, and he'll take a look at them soon. I'll let you know what he finds, or you can check the following link: https://stablebit.com/Admin/IssueAnalysis/15586 (only public responses will show up, so it may be empty)

You're very welcome. Not sure what you mean there. But to clarify, if it was a "Transfer" wizard/window, then hardware (or some other system identifier) changed, and we're updating the activation information to make sure we have the most up to date information on file. If you've deactivated the license, then that may be more problematic, and opening a ticket (with me) would be the best option.

If I may make a suggestion, get a Xeon CPU instead. It should have similar performance, but it's meant for more "server" type loads. And you can get much better CPUs (more cores, etc), for not a whole lot more.

Ah, well, it could be that as well. Try uninstalling it and see if that fixes the issue.

Well, it is definitely by design, but it definitely feels like magic. Assuming you're reinstalling on the same box: Deactivate the license on the "old" box (and note the activation key before that I would think) Turn off the system and take the pooled HDDs out (to make sure you can only install to the correct disk) Reinstall the OS Install and activate DrivePool on the new installation Reconnect the HDDs in the system (turn off and do so, if needed) As soon as the system sees the pooled drives, StableBit DrivePool will detect the drives and recreate the pool automatically.

Ah, yes, the EaseUS Partition Master software can do that as well.

Any chance you have any antivirus installed (such as Avast), or disk tools like Daemon tools? Otherwise, it may indicate a CPU issue.

Actually, could you enable the boot logging, and reboot? http://wiki.covecube.com/StableBit_DrivePool_2.x_Boot_Time_Log_Collection

Are you using Acronis to backup the pool or the disks in the pool? If not, then this won't help you, as the disk's themselves have been "altered". And unfortunately, there is no easy solution for this. Converting a basic disk to dynamic is easy, but there is no way back without deleting all the volumes on the disk..... There are tools that can do this, reportedly, which may be worth looking into: http://www.disk-partition.com/dynamic-disk/free-convert-dynamic-disk-to-basic.html However, just a warning .... any tool like this can damage the drives and the data on them.

Not a problem. And sorry to hear that it BSODed again.

You mean this one? http://community.covecube.com/index.php?/topic/1161-ssd-not-emptying/ If so, well, we found an issue with the ratio calculation and soem other related stuff recently. So, I can definitely see that fixing your issue. But I'm glad to hear it, either way!

Check Disk Management (run "diskmgmt.msc") Do the disks show up as "Dynamic" (instead of Basic)? If so.... that's the problem, and not an easy one to solve.

Todd, A quick look at the logs indicates a serious problem here. It's having issues opening "Physical Disk 6". That should be the sixth disk in the system (may be disk 5 in disk management). Do you have StableBit Scanner or anything else that checks SMART data installed on the system?

Todd, First, I'm sorry to hear about the issues. However, StableBit DrivePool uses VDS as a core part of the program, so if there are issues happening there, then it may be causing issues with StableBit DrivePool, as well. To make sure this isn't a corruption of our files, could you do a complete removal of our software? http://wiki.covecube.com/StableBit_DrivePool_Q3017479 Once you've done that, reboot the system and reinstall StableBit DrivePool. If you're still seeing issues, then let us know (and in this case, could you grab the event Viewer logs as well) Regards

We use the normal "workflow" for the file system check. So in this case, yes, you want to "force repair volume". THis will likely fail, but should ask you if you want to check at the next reboot.

Even better! Hopefully, with no issues this time! Also, that's why I like the SAS cards. You can get two expanders for the one M1015 card, and get 40 drives connected. Speaking of which, I found a nice deal on eBay, and picked one up finally.

If the SSD optimizer balancer is installed and enabled, and real time duplication is enabled, then it should only write the one copy of the file, and on the "SSD" drive specified in the balancer's settings. When balancing occurs, it should create the second file and move it off of the SSD. If that's not happening, then please enable file system logging and reproduce the issue: http://wiki.covecube.com/StableBit_DrivePool_2.x_Log_Collection