Christopher (Drashna)

Actually, Alex does mention this in the post: That last bit is the key here. "Same volume". While the Pool is a single volume, the disks that make it up are not. And because hard links are handled in a different way than reparse points, it makes it that much harder to support. Thought to use the mail analogy, reparse points are like a "change of address" form. Hard Links is like being friends with the mail carrier, and getting him to deliver your mail to a different address. DrivePool can talk to the bureaucracy, but not with the mail carrier. I hope that makes more sense. I've also flagged this discussion for Alex, so he can clarify. Also, Plex doesn't appear to use any sort of file system linking, so there shouldn't be any issue here. If you could enable file system logging and see if you can reproduce any errors? http://wiki.covecube.com/StableBit_DrivePool_2.x_Log_Collection

Could you get the Error Reports from both products? http://wiki.covecube.com/StableBit_DrivePool_2.x_Error_Reports http://wiki.covecube.com/StableBit_Scanner_for_Windows_Error_Reports And could you verify in the task manager (taskmgr.exe) that both "DrivePool.Service.exe" and "Scanner.Service.exe" are not actually running? If they are indeed running, then please get memory dumps of these processes: http://wiki.covecube.com/StableBit_DrivePool_Service_Memory_Dump http://wiki.covecube.com/StableBit_Scanner_Freeze After that, could you reset the settings and see if that helps? http://wiki.covecube.com/StableBit_DrivePool_Q2299585B http://wiki.covecube.com/StableBit_Scanner_Q4200749

Could you do this: http://wiki.covecube.com/StableBit_DrivePool_2.x_Error_Reports And actually, if you could get the entire "Service" folder, instead of just the Error Reports folder? Also, are you on 2.1.0.561 (the newest, released version)? Issue tracker: https://stablebit.com/Admin/IssueAnalysis/6257 Also, just to make sure, this indicates an issue with some of the metadata we store on the pool. And if it's only reporting the issue for the .covefs folder, then there should be no risk to the rest of the pool, or your data.

It may be possible to do that. I've flagged the request for Alex (the developer) and he'll look into it. https://stablebit.com/Admin/IssueAnalysis/6256 Also, what version of StableBit DrivePool are you using, and on which OS?

Well, depending on the placement, it is possible that some of that was "unusable for duplication space". If it was, that would definitely account for that. (can be seen in the UI). And as for the drives.... well, one of the forum users over at Home Server Show is selling 3x 4TB WD "SE" drives (enterprise) disks for $500. That's ~$166 per disk. That's about on par with the WD Reds or Seagate NAS disks, price wise. May be worth at least checking out.

Alex has looked at the dumps. It definitely looks like a memory related issue here: https://stablebit.com/Admin/IssueAnalysis/6255

@Hauge48, Thank you for reporting it as a false positive. And it looks like Avast has already updated their definitions to stop flagging the file.

We absolutely support BitLocker. There is an advanced configuration file that you will want to set up, to enable better support for it. http://wiki.covecube.com/StableBit_DrivePool_2.x_Advanced_Settings And you'll want to set "BitLocker_PoolPartUnlockDetect" to "True". Save the file, and make sure you rename it to "DrivePool.Service.exe.config" Or for WHS2011: http://wiki.covecube.com/StableBit_DrivePool_Advanced_Settings And you'll want to set "BitLocker" to "True". Save the file, and make sure you rename it to "DrivePool.Service.exe.config" You will either need to unlock the drives manually each time you boot, or you will need to encrypt the system disk and enable automatic unlocking (recommended) Though, to encrypt the system disk, you normally need "TPM" support on the motherboard. If you don't have it, there is a way to disable the need for it: Windows 7/WHS2011: http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/6229/how-to-use-bitlocker-on-drives-without-tpm/ Windows 8/Server 2012: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/hh831507.aspx#BKMK_TPMChipSupport As for "shooting yourself in the foot", just make sure you have the recovery key somewhere safe, just in case. And no, BitLocker protects the entire volume. The entire volume (disk) is encrypted. To access anything on the disk, it needs to be unlocked. Once that's done, the entire contents are accessible. Worst case here, if you have a "test" machine you can use, you could use that and see if it's what you want for your system.

Got it. A quick look at the dump indicates memory corruption, actually: BugCheck 3B, {c0000005, fffff8005b2ecac6, ffffd00021d46170, 0} Probably caused by : memory_corruption Followup: memory_corruption If this is the case, then two things: upload the minidumps as well. Just in case. (select them all, right click, send to -> compressed folder). run a memory test (memory diagnostics) on the system to ensure that the memory modules you're using are 100%. http://wiki.covecube.com/StableBit_DrivePool_Q537229 I've also flagged the dump for Alex, so that he'll take an in depth look at it. https://stablebit.com/Admin/IssueAnalysis/6255

Awesome. Thanks! Hopefully, we can get this sorted out and fixed quickly for you. Once you get those dumps uploaded, that is.

The beta version may definitely help. There have a been a LOT of bug fixes and overall improvements to the code since 2.4. As for what exactly has changed? http://dl.covecube.com/ScannerWhs2/beta/download/changes.txt If you continue to have issues after upgrading, then please do this: http://wiki.covecube.com/StableBit_Scanner_Freeze

Yes, this is DEFINITELY a false positive. Also, is the newest version of StableBit Scanner? (2.5 beta) If so, it may be an issue with how we handle the themes. Also, notice the "GenMalicious". This tends to indicated that it is considered a "general" threat based on how it functions or heuristics. Not that it specifically matches a known virus. Also, you mentioned Avast..... we seem to have all sort of issues with Avast.... They seem to flag our code a LOT.

Actually, the client computer backup database on WHSv1 was not duplicated! At all. There was a registry hack to enable it.... but it was officially unsupported. ..... But as for a size difference, that's more than possible. Since there was a significant overhaul to the backup engine between v1 and WHS2011.... I wouldn't be surprised if it is indeed using up more space. My backup database is from WHS2011 originally (and has been running nearly that long without issue) and is up to about 1TB in size). Though I do have a lot of changing data.

The last bit is the key here: Windows Backup failed to create the shadow copy on the storage location. ERROR - A Volume Shadow Copy Service operation error has occurred: (0x80042306) The shadow copy provider had an error. Check the System and Application event logs for more information The Windows Server Backup feature requires VSS support on the destination, as well as the sources to be able to work properly. And since we unfortunately are not able to support VSS at this time, the backup will fail.

It's all in the "Scanner settings". Just click on the "Settings" button in the toolbar, and it should drop down a list. "Quick Settings", "Scanner Settings" and "Notification Settings". Under the "Scanner" tab are all the options for when to scan, or rescan the drives. The "Throttling" tab settings control how we scan the disks (when to wait or throttle the scans, basically). And there is an option to throttle the scans based on the temperature, in the "Heat" tab.

Brad, Thank you for request. I've flagged it for Alex for consideration.

WhoCrashed is a good utility for diagnosing what is the cause, but not for figuring out specifically what is going wrong. So, I do believe that CoveFS (the DrivePool driver) is definitely involved here, but to what extent is hard to tell. And no worries. Enjoy you trip. When you get back, or get a chance, please upload the dumps (and the minidumps too, if you don't mind) and we'll try to see what exactly is going on.

I'm glad to hear that aside from the disk/cable issue, that everything is working correctly. However, I'm still curious as to the specific SMART warning. If it is a "read error" type value, then it should be safe to ignore.

Alex, the developer actually runs his VMs from the Pool. So that should speak volumes. ...... ..... Pun totally wasn't intended, but too good to even consider changing. And any critical data should always be duplicated. If you are okay with losing it if a disk fails, then you don't need to duplicate it. But if you couldn't stand losing it.... As for performance, that really depends on use case. If this in an environment where performance is paramount, and every bit of speed is needed.... then you may want to consider a RAID10 for the VMs. Otherwise, .... well it depends on disks that the files reside on. And since you can use the "File Placement Rules" to control that.... you could add a SSD or two to the pool, and use the rules to ensure that's where the VMs are stored. Great for performance. And it isn't an accident that this is what Alex used for the example in the blog. There is no issue with duplicating the VMs. If Real-Time Duplication is enabled (which it is by default), any write or modify commands are sent to both copies of the files at the same time, and the contents stay in sync. And again, by using the file placement rules, it allows you to maintain one pool, without sacrificing the speed that you want. But that is entirely up to you.

There are a number of values that could be, but it's more likely caused by the bad cable. And to get it to clear/ignore this working, select the disk, select "SMART Details" and click on the "ignore" button. I'd recommend selecting the "ignore current warning", so that if it increases, you'll be notified.

Yup, that last bit is the key there. And I'm glad that you were able to get the config file working and getting the SMART data from the disks.

Just add one at a time. What version of StableBit Scanner are you using? I ask, because I tried with version 2.5, and it won't let me add semi-colons, so I believe that Alex added some better handling for the email notifications in 2.5. If you're not, please update to the 2.5 beta version. Regards

Yup, definitely easy. And that's what we were going for! And thank you for the kind words!

@bb12489, Well, CoveFS.sys would definitely be us..... Could you upload the memory dumps. http://wiki.covecube.com/StableBit_DrivePool_System_Crashes Make sure you post a link to the forum URL. Also, please run a memory test on the system. http://wiki.covecube.com/StableBit_DrivePool_Q537229 Also, do you have any antivirus installed (such as Avast)? Or disk imaging tools?

Is this for a test notification or an actual alert? If it's for the test, then it only sends it to the account selected. You can test it out by using the "simulate" tab in the Scanner settings. I'd recommend enabling both "Simulate damage sectors" and "Simulate all reads". That should produce an error, and send you an email to both accounts.