Christopher (Drashna)

The Ordered File Placement balancer may help with this issue. It fills one disk at a time, and tries to keep the contents of a folder together on one disk. This would help minimize the "wake drive" issue. Additionally, since you're using the latest beta (2.1.0.46x?), could you click on the gear (top right corner), select "troubleshooting" and then "enable file system logging". Then try to reproduce this issue, and note the approximate time? And then upload the logs to us? Additionally, if you have plenty of RAM, there is a "hack" that tells Windows to use more memory for file system cache, which means quicker access for repeated commends (such as listing drive contents). http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc785435.aspx "fsutil behavior set memoryusage 2". And as I said, this is a "hack".

I tried it a MONTH ago. Locally, it works great (minus a hiccup every once in a while), but outside my network..... buffers every 5 minutes or so. Or just starts dropping frames like crazy. And I have decent upload (4mbps), so it shouldn't be an issue.

Yeah, we need to update the 2.x manual, but we've been VERY busy. Sorry about that!

You mean like eat your data? Definitely not. We'd rather err on the side of caution. Especially when your data is at risk. Automatic is a recipe for disaster.

Anyone else having this issue, please download the latest internal beta (as we haven't pushed it out). But it seems that not every R2 system is affected by this issue. Only a few: http://dl.covecube.com/ScannerWhs2/beta/download/

Didn't get a mSATA card for the OS? That board supports it. One less port in use! But otherwise, looks great.

Yes, it would be, But a seperate checkbox, IIRC.

You will probably need to "enable show system files" as these are "super hidden". And no, it will be in the root of the pool (or directly in each of the "PoolPart" folders)

We are actively looking into the "System Volume Information" folder issue. (It's used by VSS, exclusiviely). TO clear it up, you need to take ownership of the folder and then delete it. If that doesn't work on the pool folder, then... well do this on each drive in the pool that has the folder, in the PoolPart.xxxx folder.

That's a loaded question. The specific reason is that the built in Windows Backup relies solely/exclusiviely on the "Volume Shadowcopy Services". This feature is not documented at all by Microsoft. So adding support for it is nearly impossible by itself. Because of that, we cannot support backups or previous versions on the Pool volume, unfortunately. But don't get us wrong, we would love to, but it will be a serious investiture of time even figure out how to support it, let alone implementing it properly. http://stablebit.com/Support/DrivePool/1.X/Manual?Section=Using%20Server%20Backup%20to%20Backup%20the%20Pool

Noted and logged. Alex has a lot on his plate right now, but the request has been brought to his attention.

Then, yes, in this case. If a drive completely fails, and everything is duplicated: YOu'd just remove the disk, and let StableBit DrivePool start duplicating the files to the new disk, basically. However, this is why we also recommend using and purchasing StableBit Scanner. It grabs SMART warnings from the disks, as well as read their health status. And when doing this, it can evacuate a damaged disk, hopefully before it fails. But that is only if there are warnings about the drives health before it fails.

I've flagged this for Alex, but it definitely looks like there is something wrong going on here. Namely, I'm seeing a lot of "updating disks" in the service logs, which could cause issues. As well, as a lot of error reports. Also, what version of StableBit DrivePool are you running?

As I said, I'm sorry to hear that. But unfortunately, this is basically why I don't like USB for long term storage. Too many issues. Hopefully, the next build will be 100% stable!

I'm sorry to hear that. And yeah, I've always been partial to Lian Li. Great cases. As for a motherboard: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157470 22 Sata ports is enough? right? And two mSATA ports? Kidding aside, If you don't mind flashing firmware, then the IBM ServRAID M1015/M1115. Otherwise, I'd recommend the HighPoint cards (Rocket 2720SGL). You'll need "breakout cables" (SAS to SATA), but aside from that, each card would support 8 drives.

I assume you mean the folder mount points. If so, then you will need to recreate them once the server has been installed. DrivePool can use the drives with letters, mounted to folder paths, or with neither. So this is more of a personal preference thing than anything else.

Miles, are you using the "WHS2011" version for the installer (should have a "WSSX" extension)? If not, then please uninstall the current version, and download the "WHS2011" version. If you do have it installed, then you may want to run the dashboard in "safe mode" (aka, select "options" on the dashboard launcher, and check the "let me choose which add-is to load" option) and make sure that the "StableBit Scanner" add-in is enabled.

Yeah, it shouldn't have any issue with them. Specifically, most of what we do relies on built in features. So as long as Windows and NTFS has no issue with the drives, then neither will we.

Yeah, if it finds that the files are different, it does alert you to that fact, and wants you to resolve it.

Okay, I just wanted to make sure. And yeah, the external Seagates are very nicely priced, and do performance pretty well. And It's not that I don't like Plex. It's that I've never gotten good performance out of it. Works okay locally, but remotely? Lags or buffers frequently. Even with a good connection.

We really should add a "Merge Pools" option, I guess. As for quickly moving.... on the second pool... on each drive, move the files out of the hidden PoolPart folders. Then remove the drive from the pool (should be near instant, if the poolpart folder is empty). Do this for all the disks. Then add them to the pool. Then move the contents into the new (hidden) poolpart folder. Then remeasure the pool.

@ummfriend: don't copy to the pool directly then.... use \\computername\x$\ over the network isntead. Where "x" is the letter of one of the disks in the pool. Then open/find the "PoolPart" folder and copy into that. Externals are you friends. They make things much easier. Especially in this case.

John, Not a problem. We just wanted to make sure that you were aware that there is no upgrade path prior to trying. Talk about a horrible way to spend a weekend, if you weren't aware. As for the domain stuff.... If you have a good copy... I would recommend using a domain. Why? Do you watch the BYOB show? If not, there is a good show that I appeared on.. talking about domains: http://homeservershow.com/byob-episode-139.html As for the VMs, yes DEFINITELY switch to HyperV. You will be happy you did. Though... a domain makes managing HyperV remotely MUCH simpler. Much. Though, converting VDI to VHD .... it appears to be beyond simple: http://www.sysprobs.com/vdi-vhd-convert-virtualbox-virtual-machines-virtual-pc Seriously, one simple command.

Yes, the info is 100% relevant still. And it wasn't deleted, so much as not carried over. the v1.X manual assumes that you are using Windows Server Backup from the dashboard. However, 2.X can be run on server and guest OS's, so the data isn't the same. (Windows Server Backup is very different from Windows (Client) Backup). And speaking of that, what OS are you using DrivePool on?

Well, if the issue persists after removing all that hardware.... then please do open up a ticket. And you are very welcome. Also, which 4TB externals are you getting? Either you didn't mention it, or I skimmed over it, or .... I forgot.