Christopher (Drashna)

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.

For those that are not as familiar with this topic or ... why you'd want to do this, let me quickly sum it up: Control, speed, reliability. And Control. I've been running pfSense for a while, as a custom router. Instead of a normal consumer router, such as a linksys or asus or belkin router. I've been happy because it gives me more options and more control over the network. But between some performance issues with pfSense, and then it not booting back up... I've had to replace my router. I have a Linksys WRT610N v2.... but it's been less than stable. Wireless dies on it, and if I even try to enable QoS (Quality of Service, aka Traffic Shaping) or WMM (wireless QoS basically), it crashes my router. Hard. Every 10 minutes or so. So I did so looking and shopping. I found a very nice little box that is an Atom CPU, low powered, and supports 2 NICs. And I got a license from Sophos for Home/Free use. Installed it and set it up. Absolutely love it. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16856205007 This is the box I got. IT doesn't come with RAM or drive, but I had both. And it idles at around 5-10% CPU usage. If you're inclined on building your own router, then I highly recommend Sophos. It's a bit "draconian", but it has a great firewall built in. It also uses Squid I beleive to filter the traffic (and block things if needed), as well as to virus scan contents as you browse. Much like Untangle or pfSense. But it's all free, and requires a little more than a couple of clicks to setup. For anyone interested, I've been writing about it here: https://drashna.net/blog/2014/02/adventures-with-sophos/

Joe, I know I'm probably going to repeat a few things that have been said here.... but.... I wasn't sure if you had duplication enabled or not. Because in this case it does make a difference. For what you want to do... I'd recommend pulling the 500GB drive, and replacing it with the larger disk. DrivePool will pitch a fit about the missing disk. Remove it to clear the error. Once that's done, connect the 500GB drive to another system. Once you've done that, you'll find a hidden "PoolPart.xxx" folder on the drive. The contents of this disk will be laid out identically to your pool. Copy the contents back over to the pool/shared folders. As for duplication, I honestly recommend always enabling duplication, when you have the option/ability. Yes, it takes up x2 the space. But if a drive fails, you don't have to worry about what you've lost, because you have a copy of the files elsewhere. Additionally, there is the "read striping" feature. It helps boost performance in a number of ways (reading from the faster drive, or reading and caching the contents in a way that boosts reads).

LOL, well, thank you. For migrating the pool... you're using using DrivePool 2.X. So there is absolutely nothing you really need to do. Just reinstall the OS and reinstall DrivePool. It will recognize the pool, and recreate it. It will retain the duplication settings, and the label, but that may be it. Oh, and you'll want to run the WSS Troubleshooter, to "rebuild drivepool shares". So you don't have to manually: http://wiki.covecube.com/StableBit_DrivePool_Utilities And no, it doesn't matter when you connect the drives. As soon as DrivePool is installed *and* the disks are connected, it will recreate the pool. That describes DrivePool's migration. As for Server 2012 to 2012 R2..... Are any computers joined to the domain? If so.... "outlook is not good". There is no direct upgrade path here. It's a clean install. Which means you lose EVERYTHING related to the domain. Including domain users. WHich means those computers connected to the domain.... You lose the domain accounts on them. Because you'll have to leave the domain and rejoin it. Even if you use the same names. I think I've answered everything of importance here (and clarified what Daveboy37 has said. If not, ask for clarification, and I'll do what I can.

http://wiki.covecube.com/StableBit_DrivePool_Utilities#DrivePool_Command_Utility I'm not sure it will work on the "root" directory. And yes, the shares pick up the default duplication status, which is x1, unless explicitly changed

Glad to hear it. And yeah, I was going to recommend that file. As I know it works (the dropbox link is to my account)

Actually, the "only works on one" isn't an uncommon thing. Silicon Images suffer from this problem. That or listing the same information for ALL disks attached to the system. (so you'd have no idea that hte second+ drive is failing.... And as for why we go through this trouble.... There are two reasons: because once we get it all working properly, it's awesome. You can sit back and enjoy the fruits of your labor, and the effort it took to get there. That feeling of "it's finally working" is just ... Words don't describe it. because we are all masochists And as for the intel, this is the onboard controller, right? ICH##R, right? If so... yeah, they're crap. And this is a reason I'm not fond of RAID. I'd rather just have a daily backup, and restore to a disk if it fails or needs to be replaced.

LOL. Yeah, destroying drives is oddly satisfying. Though I like collecting the magnets. I've always loved magnets! As for the cheaper... it's the same in the US. However... the warranty is different. Usually 1 year instead of 2-3. Also, if you remove the disk from the enclosure, you void the warrranty technically. Also, because the drives are in an enclosure... and usually without any cooling, the drives run much hotter (up to 30C hotter!), so the lifetime of the drive is shorted. As for a SATA III card, I recommend anything running LSI really. Expensive ... but worth it. Or if you want to be cheap, get an IBM ServRAID m1015/m1115 card and "cross flash" it to IT mode (works as a HBA/controller card). You can usually find these for about $100-150USD (so roughly 70-100EUR, I believe?) As for the long times, absolutely. If the controllers are slow (or you have a LOT of them), it can take a while to "ping" all of them and get a response. That's also the advantage of that "cross flashing", you can opt to not flash the management ROM on the card, which means no additional wait time. And yes, the cards can slow down boot time. When each is loaded by the system, it has to load it's management routine, which can take a few seconds or more. As for in the OS, a bad driver could potentially cause slowdowns with the Virtual Disk Service (how windows interacts with the drives).

Yeah, the Archive Optimizer balancer is a very special case, and not needed by everyone. Though, I'd recommend keeping the OS on a SSD. It does makes a difference, and makes the system more responsive overall. Okay, so it was the over provisioning that I thought. I don't have a Samsung drive, and have never used their software. So I wasn't aware that you could use it to alter the "spare space" size.

The best way would be to remote the disk from the pool first. If you are using duplication... using the "Duplicate files later" option may work well here. Worst case, use the "file placement limiter" balancer to only allow duplicated files on the 500GB drive. Then let it site for a while, and then remove it (using that "duplicate files later" option). Then replace the drive, and add the 2TB to the pool. Then it should immediately start duplicating. And viola, done.

I'm not sure what you mean by "over provisioning" here. (Specifically because all SSD over provisioning is usually done on the firmware level, and invisible to end users or even the system). And yes, you could resize the partitions, and create a dedicated partition for a feeder disk. However, I'd recommend a dedicated drive for the feeder disks. Why? To prevent sharing the IO with the system. As well, as prevent the system disk from getting "thrashed". It will receive a LOT of writes (depending on what you're doing), and may adversely affect the drive's life (SSD's life is very write dependent, though newer drives definitely last much longer). And if you're going to be using duplication, then ideally, you will want two disks. As for if this "will be worth the trouble", are you doing a lot of writes? Such as a database on the Pool (like the Client Computer Backup database), or copying/moving files to the pool often? If speed isn't an issue, then this isn't worth it. As for the disadvantages, I covered that already, above: wear and tear on the drives. Also, you'll want to dedicate a drive or two to this role. Which may or may not be pratical depending on your system.

Wow, that's .... Wow. I was not actually aware of this. To be honest, in that situation, I'd pull out ALL of the disks. Put them into a pile. Then one at a time, update the firmeware, remove the disk and put into a "finished" pile. Screw up time! I want WORKING drives.

Ah, well, the newest beta's of 2.X also fix this issue. I'll post the link to those, if you want. And yes, v1.X integrates into the dashboard a LOT more. And is much better for WHS2011, in my opinion. As for "Deleted all the duplicated files", that's not supposed to happen. However, it may have kicked off a "duplication pass" to check it's status.

Okay, good to know. Feel free to submit the error reports, if you want. And I definitely understand not wanting to use a beta.

Yeah, UAC stuff...... The best way to fix that is to completely disable the UAC. That will automatically run everything with the highest privileges. And by disable, I dont' mean the slider. http://superuser.com/questions/83677/disabling-uac-on-windows-7

I am very sorry for missing this. I'm not even sure how that happened. If you are still having this issue, please, please! open a ticket at http://stablebit.com/Contact

Umfriend, If you are on the release version, then the issue probably has been fixed in the latest internal betas then. If this is the issue I think it is (does this happen shortly after the system boots up, or after restarting the StableBit DrivePool Service?), then it has been fixed, and isn't a critical issue. However, if you are concerned, then please do open a ticket at http://stablebit.com/Contact/ and we'll take a look at them.

Shawn, that's good to know. And glad to hear that it works well with DrivePool.

Basically, yes. However, any changes to the pool that you make will be picked up. That means files or duplicate status. That, and if the drives were already part of a pool on WHS2011, then when you install StableBit DrivePool on Windows 8, it will recognize the existing pool and recreate it.

If you guys are using the "ordered file placement" balancer, please update to the newest version: https://stablebit.com/DrivePool/Plugins @HansWursT619: Unfortunately, the only way to do that currently is the Ordered File Placement balancer. Alex has plans on allowing finer control (control file placement), but it is going to require an overhaul of the balancing system, IIRC.

If a reboot fixed it, it may be that it got hung up on something. If it does happen again, please do open a ticket at http://stablebit.com/Contact and that should have no issues with attaching images.