Christopher (Drashna)

Tomba, did it say "scanning" or "waiting to scan"? Because normally, if there is disk activity, Scanner will delay the scan, as to not interfere with normal file operations. That, or, have you messed with that setting? Or, it was possibly low enough activity where it didn't trigger this delay in Scanner.

That's entirely up to you. If it's working fine right now, you can just leave it. But I would recommend reformatting it as GPT. (but some have called me a glutton for punishment.... and maybe rightly) You can use the "File Placement Limiter" balancer to clear out the drive, so the pool is still accessible while it's migrating the data off of the disk. Once that's done, just remove it (should be very quick as there would be no data on the drive), then use disk management. There.... make sure you absolutely have the correct disk. Then delete the partitions (all of them) that are on the disk in question. Once that's done, right click on the box where it says the drive #, and select "Convert to GPT", and then you're set. Create a partition at this point if you want (or just let drive Pool do that)

Could you do this then? http://wiki.covecube.com/StableBit_DrivePool_Log_Collection That's a low level kernel logging feature, and may indicate where the issue is. Also, if you have Scanner installed, you could run the "burst" test for a few hours or overnight, and that will see if there is an issue with the drive/controller.

Thank you, and you are welcome. And glad to hear about Scanner. I'm pretty sure you'll love it.

If it's working great, then I would recommend just staying there. And v2 is still in beta. But I've been using it "in production" for a while and have not had any issues.

You are very welcome. Just note that you won't have as much integration with the dashboard with v2.x.

Hmm, Would you mind posting those logs? Ideally, uploading them to a cloud solution, and post a link via http://stablebit.com/Contact As for migrating the files yourself... Check the balancers. Use the "File Placement Limiter" and uncheck both boxes for the drive in question. Also make sure it is set to immediately balance. That or you *can* copy the contents of the folder (not the folder itself) to the contents of a different "PoolPart" folder on a different drive.

For DrivePool 1.x, it should be in the DrivePool tab, under the "Disk" section, IIRC.

Yes, it's the "Windows 7 (64 bit)" option. Download and install that, and you'll noticed the dashboard integration. It works for WHS2011 and Widnows Server 2012 Essentials as well.

That's still the case. Which is fine by me. There is a "trick" to get the OS to set all new disks as "offline" by default. I "borrowed" it from the Windows To Go setup guide: http://social.technet.microsoft.com/wiki/contents/articles/6991.windows-to-go-step-by-step.aspx

The file is straight from my server (taken over the default network from the "c$" share). I also use "notepad2" to edit all my text files. It's good about not changing the encoding (this *could* be the issue).

I'm just as guilty of the "not duplicating everything". I'd like to, but .... Also, you could use the "File Placement Limiter" balancer to force migration off the disk in question. That way, you don't have to sit waiting for the drive to remove. You can clear the data off and then quickly remove the disk.

Nimbu, head to "http://stablebit.com/Contact" and we'll reset the activation for you. In the meanwhile, you could activate the trial period. And very nice grab on the ex495. Though, as for the BIOS, there really isn't much in there to change. I had one of those units, and yeah, a lot of hte options are basically stripped out. Though, IIRC, most of the default settings are basically ideal. And yeah, the HP MicroServer's are a nice system too. Are you planning on using the BIOS mod for it? Also, I'd recommend a small disk for the operating system. And basically just backing up that drive.

Sorry, I think I skimmed a lot of the post (I apologize for that, but a nasty case of the stomach flu really does a number on you) And for the shared parts, you're absolutely correct. Again, sorry. Though, if the OS SKU (version) includes it, "lusrmgr.msc" is a good way to verify that the user account names are identical.

Also, you can use the "Burst test" in StableBit Scanner, to see if there is an issue with the drive/controller communication. Also, have you tested out writes to each drive in the pool? And, do you have Network IO Boost enabled?

Thanks. The first post look better now? To be honest, I'm more of a Hyper-V guy, so I'm not as familiar with ESXi as I would like to be.

Pal, Try this one: http://sdrv.ms/15VxO50 This is from my server, so it should work... If it doesn't, would you mind trying the 2.x version for Windows 7 (64 bit) and see if that works? (If you don't want to, I completely understand) Also, if you keep on having issues, would you mind submitting a ticket at http://stablebit.com/Contact ?

Yup. DrivePool will recognize the pooled drives, rebuild the pool, and it should even notice if you are missing disks. However, after that, I would recommend using the "WSS Troubleshooter" to "Reset NTFS permissions on the pool" (to wipe them clean), and then "Rebuild DrivePool Shares", as this will configure WHS2011 to use the pooled drive for the shared folders, so you don't have to manually configure them yourself. http://wiki.covecube.com/StableBit_DrivePool_Utilities Almost like that tool was built for reinstalls. Also, if you don't mind me asking, did you have Server Backup set up? And if not, why not? It would have made restoring a half hour procedure, and you'd be back up and running just as it was. And .... (sorry for the completely shameless self promotion here, but) Did you have StableBit Scanner installed? If not, I would recommend at least checking it out, as it may have warned you about that failed hard drive before it went (depending on how it failed).

Well, if everything was duplicated... you could have just pulled the drive, put in the new one, and then wait for it to duplicate to the new drive. That would have been the fastest way.

Download the "WSS Troubleshooter" and run the "Reset NTFS Permissions on the pool" option. This will set it to a "stock" setting that should work 100%. After that, you can set it up "normally". WHS2011 does this by sharing the folders with "Everyone" having full control, and then assigning users different permissions on the shares (or completely removing the user account, and "authenticated users" from the NTFS Security permissions on those folders). @Shane: that won't work. Moving the drives from one system to the other, the user accounts use a different "SID" for the users, and the new system may not (probably don't, in fact) recognize those user accounts.

You are very welcome. I tried to be very thorough when I answer. And I'm glad it's appreciated. I've always hated the simple, short "yes"/"no" answers. And if you're curious, the "media wearout indicator" stat on my server's SSD (system drive) (which is roughly a year old, and has had several installs onto it) is at "97%", so it's got a long time left, theoretically.

You are pretty much spot on. However, if you have multiple "server backup" drives attached when you set up Server Backup, you can set up multiple drives. This way you can cycle them, and even store one or more offsite. However, you do have to have *all* of them attached when you set it up initially. (this is not a well documented "feature", unfortunately, because it's a VERY VERY important one)

Unless anyone objects, I'm going to pin this thread, rename it and edit the first post, so anyone else using ESXi can easily find this. Thanks guys for the input and feedback!!

No it is not. Could you do this: http://wiki.covecube.com/StableBit_DrivePool_Dashboard_Freeze as well as this: http://wiki.covecube.com/StableBit_Scanner_for_WSS_Error_Reports

Sorry that I couldn't have been of more help. Hopefully, everything stays working just fine this time. Also, do you have Server Backup setup already (just in case)? This would make it easier on you if there are issues.