Christopher (Drashna)

Alternativesurfer: Sometimes, other issues can cause "false positives" in StableBit Scanner's service scan. Specifically cable, controller or sometimes power issues. You can clear the damaged sectors, and let StableBit Scanner rescan the disk. To do so, open up the StableBit Scanner UI. From there, find the disk in question, and click on the "+" on the left hand side of the disk. Find the button with a green circle, with a green arrow in it. Click on this and select the "mark all unreadable blocks as unchecked" This will cause StableBit Scanner to rescan the disk. If the damage comes back, then there may be an issue with the disk that isn't being detected by DrivePool. However, did you run "chkdsk /r"? Specifically, the "/r" flag is what tries to find and repair these damaged sectors Additionally, running "chkdsk /b" may be better and detecting this issue. Additionally, the act of scanning the disk, or running the chkdsk may have fixed the issue that the disk was having. Or it could have been a transient issue with the controller for the disks. If the "damage" doesn't come back, you may want to run the "burst test" option for the disk (Right click on it, select "burst test") Let this run 24 hours (or at least overnight). If it comes back with issues, then you may have an issue here.

Ah, well, if a drive is having issues, then that could definitely cause issues with StableBit DrivePool.

Absolutely! To get the discount, grab your StableBit DrivePool Activation ID, and head to "https://stablebit.com/Buy/Scanner/" and scroll down until you see the "Already own one of our products?" section. Input your Activation ID into the box and hit "Apply Activation ID". Once you've done that, it will will refresh the page with the discounted pricing ($15, instead of $24.95). Additionally, you can get a discount on additionally copies of both (up to 9 of each), so you could use them on multiple computers

Enable file system logging and reproduce the error. Then open a ticket (https://stablebit.com/Contact) and we'll take a look. ALso, could see about playing the file directly from the disk (from the PoolPart folders in question, which may take some digging). Also, do you have any antivirus or disk imaging tools installed? In fact, do this: http://wiki.covecube.com/StableBit_DrivePool_Q2159701

Okay, I just wanted to make sure. And yeah, it definitely does. And I'm glad to hear it.

Generally, the "unrecoverable" errors in a RAID array are due to a disk taking too long to return an error. This is why it is ALWAYS recommended to only use drives that support "TLER" in a RAID array. Specifically, "TLER" stands for "Time Limited Error Recovery" and limits the disk from attempting to read the disk to 7 seconds. If the drive in question does not have TLER or has it disabled, then the RAID controller may drop the disk from teh array if it takes too long to read or write. As for StableBit Scanner, it should n't have a problem with any disk, but it could theoretically trigger this behavior in a RAID enclosure, depending the the enclosure's firmware and the disks in question. A JBOD shouldn't have this issue, I beleive. But that still depends on the disks and the firmware still.

No, we haven't added support for TrueCrypt yet. Unfortunately, its not exactly on our high priority list (especially with the "official" discontinuation of development for it). ANd right now, Alex is very busy trying to get StableBit CloudDrive out. Once that is finished, we'll take a look at this (and a number of other feature requests) and see about implementing them.

Unfortunately, no we can't really give you any more information about this product at this time. Right now, developement hasn't really started on it at all. Alex is busy working on StableBit CloudDrive (and we are very close to getting that released). Once we are done with that, then we will focus on our other projects, like this one. However, that said, we have discussed parity, and other related solutions, how they'd work with our products, and the like. So a lot of pre-planning has been done for this. As soon as there is any more word about this, we'll post it here, or on the blog.

I'm glad to hear it! If you're using the ASMedia card, then make sure you install the drivers for it. Windows will identify and install generic drives, but it doesn't support port multiplication. You need the actual ASMedia drivers for that.

From the tech preview, there doesn't appear to be much of anything changed in the Essentials Experience role. So other than an updated base OS... no real change. And you are very welcome. While it's no longer consumer targeted, I still love the product and definitely endorse it.

You are very welcome. If you need anything else or have any other questions, don't hesitate to ask.

I checked on Ark, and it appears that there is no difference, other than slight increase to clockspeed. So, it may save you a small chunk of money to go with the 1245/1246 instead.

I'm running the Xeon E3 1245v3 and have for more than a year, I believe (my memory is horrible). I'm running R2 Essentials with the HyperV role installed. I also run a website from it (https://drashna.net/). That includes download clients (sab+sickbeard+couchpotato), I also have Subsonic, MySQL, Plex, ScreenConnect, and a few other things all running. I was running BlueIris on the system (which is very CPU intensive) as well. The CPU was more than handling it, and with BlueIris running, was idling at about 60% usage (this with all of that running and at least 2 VMs running at any giving time). After moving BlueIris to a dedicated box, and running close to 10 VMs all the time (SSD FTW), it runs at about 20-25%. The 1275v3 is a slightly higher clock speed (and I think more cache), so I'm confident that it can handle whatever you have to throw at it.

Yes, definitely. Though, we recommend duplicating the folder taht the VMs are located in, just in case. In fact, Alex (the developer) runs VMWare from the pool (IIRC), and I have run HyperV VMs from the pool in the past. Yes and no. DrivePool has no issue with that, but StableBit Scanner does. Specifically, the passthrough driver does NOT pass through the SMART data for the disks: http://community.covecube.com/index.php?/topic/29-how-to-getting-smart-data-from-hyper-v/ Other that reduced resources on the host? No. HyperV is supposed to do a VERY good job of emulating hardware, so you should see decent performance. Though the biggest determining factor for this is the system disk for the VM. Regards

That's normal in this case. By default, StableBit DrivePool puts new files on the disk with the most avilable free space. After time, this equalizes the disk space between all of the disks. However, if you want to force this behavior immediately, then download the "Disk Space Equalizer" balancer plugin, and enable it. This will force StableBit DrivePool to equalize the usage between all of the disks. https://stablebit.com/DrivePool/Plugins

Well, I'm glad to hear that it seems to be working fine now!

Try clearing the setting and if it comes back, definitely let us know. To clear it, find the disk in StableBit Scanner. Click on the "+" on the left hand side of the disk. At the bottom of the expanded section for the disk, there should be a "File system health" area. Click on the arrow thing on the left side, This should expand the File system health section. There should also be a button with a green circle and an arrow in it. CLick on that, and select the "Mark damaged file system as unchecked" option.

I'd go for the Xeon. Are you planning on overclocking here? And what all do you plan on doing with the server?

We haven't done extensive testing yet, but we have confirmed that both StableBit DrivePool and StableBit Scanner do work fine on Windows 10. Once Windows 10 hits RTM, or at least a point where there is no more code changes to the core, then we'll actively test on it. Until then, it's basically a waste of our time. Akin to trying to scoop water with your hands. Each time we test, a new version may be out the next day. But we DEFINITELY do plan on supporting Windows 10. They did and didn't. To be honest, the WHS line was an anomaly for Microsoft. That it got made, and a SECOND version got made was very unusual. And we, the enthusiasts greatly benefited (especially in regards to the "Drive Extender Replacement" products). That said, the WHS team got merged with the SBS Team, because the product goals aligned, and they wanted the awesomeness of Windows Home Server. Not just the backup, but the whole package. And to put the whole "anomaly" in perspective, the SBS MVPs were floored by just how much the WHS team communicated and interacted with us WHS MVPs. Apparently, it was unprecedented (which really is the whole problem with Microsoft...., but that's another rant). So, when Windows 8/Server 2012 got started in developement, the big push was to consolidate the products into as few product lines as possible. That way, this would reduce consumer(and enterprise) confusion about what product you wanted. And because of that, the "home" product lost out. However, Server 2012 Essentials is a DIRECT predecessor to Small Business Server 2011 Essentials, which is a "sister" product to WHS2011. In fact, the main difference between the two are the number of users and computers, and that it's a domain controller. And that's it (well, max memory being higher, too). So WHS never really died. However, it did "grow up". It's never going to die now. However, it is a LOT more expensive. But those of us that started with WHS very early, most of us realized just how much of a steal WHS was at ~$100. Even $150, it was a good price. Now to put things into perspective, if you look at Essentials as JUST a backup server, it's value is .... by far the best. There are solutions such as "Handy Backup" that emulate it works. However... The product is $940, and requires at least one "Server agent" license, which costs $259. That's $1199 out the door. Just to START with. And then it's $49 PER WORKSTATION. For 10 computers, that's another $490. Acronis has a similar solution, but their pricing is "Contact us", which means even worse, most likely And thats about the best ones you can find. I'm sure others exist, and I've seen others. But they get expensive quickly. So even at $400, Essentials is still a fantastic deal. And you get the file server, web server, media server, Remote Desktop server (Gateway) and VPN functionality as well.

Windows 10 will be much the same as far as versions. However, as for 2012R2 Essentials, check out a couple of links: http://www.tinkertry.com/how-to-make-windows-server-2012-r2-essentials-client-connector-install-behave-just-like-windows-home-server/ As URL states, it's how to run the Essentials server just as WHS2011. It's great if you don't want the domain functionality. However, I (yes, me) cover a LIST of reasons why a domain is a really nice thing to have: http://homeservershow.com/byob-episode-139.html I've seen reports of it on the We Got Served forums, and on the Home Server Show forums as well. Though, not everyone has seen that issue. Also, regarding the backups: http://stablebit.com/Support/DrivePool/1.X/Manual?Section=Using%20Server%20Backup%20to%20Backup%20the%20Pool

Well, that's why it's an alpha build product. Hopefully, reverting does fix the issue.

Not a problem. However, if that reallocated sector count keeps on increasing, stop using the disk and replace it. Because this usually indicates a physical defect or problem with the disk.

Reallocated sectors are different from bad sectors. Well, in that they were bad, but have been remapped. However, a large number of remapped sectors like this can indicate a serious defect/problem with the disk. Additionally, a large number of remapped sectors can adversely affect performance on the pool (read and write), as the heads are jumping every which way, as the sectors for affected sections are not longer sequential. In this case, I would recommend RMAing the drive if it's under warranty, or use it for nothing important or performance sensitive. And no, TrueCrypt should not adversely affect either the scan or the SMART data like this.

Doublepost from here: http://community.covecube.com/index.php?/topic/986-larger-than-2tb-drives/&do=findComment&comment=6395But going to repost response here: It depends on where you're looking at the disk from. In a few places, the driver does report that it's only a 2TB volume. This is for compatibility. However, in Explorer, it should show up as the proper size of the pool. It should show up as 2TBs in Disk Management and DiskPart. But explorer.... It should show up as the correct size. If it's not, please open a ticket at https://stablebit.com/Contact and we'll see about getting this fixed. Also, what OS are you using here?

Unfortunately, no there isn't a way to do that. Specifically, we set duplication per folder. So if you really wanted to do this, then I'd recommend a separate folder for FLAC and MP3 files.