Christopher (Drashna)

What are the main balancing settings? Is it set to immediately balance or "every day at" a specific time? Also, if you want to more aggressively move files, then change the "if the balance ration falls below" slider to be a higher percentage. I'd recommend 90-95% for this. Or if you want it to do it if it has ANY data at all, to 100%. Also, is the "or if at least this much data needs to be moved" option checked? And if so, what is it set to? If you've messed around with these settings, and it's still not balancing, then please do the following: http://wiki.covecube.com/StableBit_DrivePool_2.x_Log_Collection

I know the guys over at Home Server Show generally recommend running SpinRite on new disks to make sure there are no issues with new disks, and that's a pretty good idea. Though, it requires a dedicated machine (SpinRite is a boot disk), or a Virtual Machine capable of passing disks through (such as HyperV). And a few days. It's not a bad idea, but it does seem to have issues with disk larger than 2TBs unfortunately. But yes, definitely, when it comes to your data, it's always better to err on the side of caution.

Well, I don't think that Seagate has updated their diagnostic tools recently, so it may not interpret that error correctly. In fact, the error indicates silent corruption/damage to the disk, which is NEVER good. However, given the description of your other issues, it does sound like maybe you have a loose or bad cable. Re-seating the cable, or even swapping it out may be a good idea.

Yes, that is unusual and not supposed to happen. However it does, once in a very great while. You've opened a ticket for this issue as well, and I've responded there. However, I'll post the response here as well: could you upload the log folder for StableBit DrivePool? http://wiki.covecube.com/StableBit_DrivePool_2.x_Log_Collection Just do steps #5-7 And then get a memory dump of the StableBit DrivePool Service? http://wiki.covecube.com/StableBit_DrivePool_Service_Memory_Dump Once you've done that, try resetting StableBit DrivePool's settings and see if that helps: http://wiki.covecube.com/StableBit_DrivePool_Q2299585B Regards

Yes. Google Drive has issues accessing the Pooled file system. Which is odd, because other utilities don't have the issue. So unless it's relying on some very special file system commands, or VSS.... And since Picasa and Google Play Music are both from Google, and probably use the same code, it's a good bet that they'll have issues as well. I haven't tested them personally though.

If network IO boost was enabled prior to me asking, then disable it and see if that helps. Also see if disabling Read Striping helps as well.

No, there shouldn't be any issues. The only feature that may cause issues on an Atom CPU is the "Network IO Boost", but that feature is disabled by default for just that reason. (this is because the feature uses added overhead to differentiate network traffic from local disk traffic)

It only has issues running directly on the pool. If it's running on the same system, but not on the pool, then it works 100% fine. And I'm not sure that it supports using network locations, nor had I tested that out.

I believe so, but I'm not 100% certain. If you do experience any issue with the beta builds, then do let us know right away.

You're welcome. If you have any more questions, don't hesitate to ask.

I know that Google Drive has issues with DrivePool. I've tried it on Server 2012 and Windows 8, and both places, it fails. It is a known issue, and it is on the "to do" list.

Well, it's definitely getting the SMART data then. When using the DirectIO test app, it did not show a green check next to "S.M.A.R.T. Attributes" under either WMI or Direct I/O? Same for when you checked "Unsafe Direct IO"? Could you post screen shots of the app? And just to make sure, these disks are showing up in "Legacy" mode, right?

We are glad that you like it so much!

This only happens on upgrade? And this is with the built in NFS Server for WHS2011? If so, then it's possible because the pooled disk is disappearing temporarily during the upgrade process. What version of DrivePool are you using again? And we'll look into this. (https://stablebit.com/Admin/IssueAnalysis/2186)

NCage, This is very normal if you haven't really added any files to the pool since adding the disk. The reason for this is that DrivePool tends to add new files to the disks with the most free space by default. If you haven't added any, and none of the other balancers placement settings have been "violated", it's not going to fill the new disks. However, if you really do want your data to be forcibly spread out between the disks, then you may want to install the "Disk Space Equalizer" balancer plugin. This balancer plugin does exactly what it sounds like it does. https://stablebit.com/DrivePool/Plugins

Try this file: https://www.dropbox.com/s/0krodbweqz1rrc4/Scanner.Service.exe.config It's taken from my personally system, and should definitely work. If it's still not working, the check out this thread: http://community.covecube.com/index.php?/topic/36-how-to-contribute-test-data/

Wow, that's ..... Well glad you found the issue. And a good reason not to install the fancy tools....

Thanks for confirming both parts. And just FYI, we are looking to push out the newer beta version out, but we want to make sure they're stable and ready before doing so.

If you're using Server 2012R2 Essentials (and it sounds like you are).... Then every hour or 12 (not sure), it takes a "snapshot" and copies the user files to the network path. Since disabling that stops this growth, that definitely sounds like what the issue was. Also, File History is very much different from Shadow Copies. And in fact, we don't support Shadow Copies on the pool (there is no documentation on how to implement it on the file system level).

Well, at least some sort of backup, then. Always a good idea to have at least one! And yeah, "bleeding edge" or "cutting edge" or similar terms are named that way for a reason. Sometimes, you get bit. (edited quotes for simplicity/length/etc) I'm not even going to try and comment on this part. This is all Alex's. I have, however, flagged the thread for him, so he'll respond when he gets a chance.

No, there is no cost to upgrade. The license is valid for any version of the product. And the Pool is backwards and forwards compatible, so you can try out both versions and see which you like better.

Have you tried enabling the "Network IO Boost" option? It uses a bit more CPU, but may help with the performance issue. Also, does this happen only with the Pool, or does it happen on any other disks in the system as well?

Well, that's .... wow. Definitely not supposed to happen. Do you happen to still have the logs/error reports from around the time that this happened? If so, could you upload them to us, so we can take a look at them? And I'm glad to hear that Windows Server Backup saved you when it did go pear shaped.

LCC .... argh. Basically, if it's a WD green drive, and you haven't run wdidle3 on it, it's almost safe to ignore. That, or definitely throttle the SMART queries for Scanner, to help prevent the rapid climb. But anywhere between 300k and 600k is "normal" from what I've seen. And you're right, avoiding flashing firmware is a good idea. The wdidle3 utility actually warns you about that, and to make sure there is no data on the drive (or that it's backed up already). That, and I think the RED drives will be better anyways.

That seems to be a newer value. For details on it: http://h20565.www2.hp.com/portal/site/hpsc/template.BINARYPORTLET/public/kb/docDisplay/resource.process/?spf_p.tpst=kbDocDisplay_ws_BI&spf_p.rid_kbDocDisplay=docDisplayResURL&javax.portlet.begCacheTok=com.vignette.cachetoken&spf_p.rst_kbDocDisplay=wsrp-resourceState%3DdocId%253Demr_na-c01159621-1%257CdocLocale%253D&javax.portlet.endCacheTok=com.vignette.cachetoken However, it does seem to indicate a serious issue, and we may need to upgrade the "severity" of this type of error. If the disk is under warranty, then I'd recommend RMAing it. Just in case. Better safe, than a dead drive. And to clarify here, the documentation on the error doesn't seem to be clear as to how urgent the issue is. (it implies, but not outright states). However, several sources agree that this is a severe warning and that the disk should be replace immediately. I've flagged this for Alex, to see if it should be "upgraded" in severity. And as I already said, it would be better to RMA the drive just in case. When dealing with data, prudence is always smart.