Christopher (Drashna)

For both of you, one thing that may help, is throttling the SMART queries. We do run these pretty often, as it usually shouldn't be an issue. But for some drives/controller combinations, it can cause issues. 
 
http://stablebit.com/Support/Scanner/2.X/Manual?Section=SMART
You can throttle how often the queries occur, or set them to only occur during the work/scanning window.  That may help with the LCC increasing.
 
 
This has become the most important aspect when purchasing drives for me. How long they are covered for is more important than any other aspect, IMO.

I can't see any reason to replace the 80MM's with 120's if you're not worried about noise.  I actually kind of find it silly to cram that many drives into an enclosure and struggle to keep it quiet.  That many drives so close together needs serious cooling.  
 
The stock fans though are definitely inadequate for anything other than a very cool data center and I am being forced to either leave the A/C in my house at 73-ish while I'm not there or replace the two 80's in the rear of the 4224 with the Tornados.  About 1/2 throttle is getting the job done nicely on my 4220.
 
Yeah, those 80's sure do move some air...  about 85CFM IIRC. That's just nuts from such a small fan.
 
Do your 8TB platters run any hotter than your 4's??
 
~RF

On my 4220 I use three 120MM Delta "screamers" and two 80MM Tornado's in the rear, all in parallel running through this guy:  http://goo.gl/yDXnXS
 
I drilled a small hole in the front plate where the slim DVD drive would go and mounted the variable control. 
 
I found that with two 80MM Tornado's for exhaust you could lose all the fans on the fan plate with a fully populated enclosure and still be OK..
 
....of course you'd be deaf if the server was anywhere near you but for applications where sound isn't an issue these Tornado's can't be beat for airflow. (And longevity from what I've read -- apparently they last forever.) I've got two extras sitting here waiting to go in WOPR if need be.
 
My servers are in the basement and my drives in the 4224 are running between 80-102 with the A/C in the house set at 73.That's OK but much higher than the 85-90 I like to sit at.
 
I think if I leave the house for more than a day or two, with the A/C set at 77-79 I'm going to have issues with the stock 4224.
 
The 4220 with the Delta's and Tornados, with no A/C on in the house, the drives run between 71-90.  Absolutely perfect temp IMO..
 
~RF
 
4224 W/ Stock Cooling.  Room Temp 73F
 

Alright thanks.    Maybe I won't need to worry about it too long when I get that new controller card.

Hi not sure if this helps or not but if you have iTunes installed there is a known problem that causes this you even if your using another player, anyway what you have to do is load QuickTime up go to preferences and change the playback mode to safe mode you may have to do this a number of times as it doesn't always stick then reboot and it does stop it mine used to pause for a few seconds at the beginning of each song very annoying but the above did solve it if you google iTunes playback stuttering there are other solutions as well.

Ah, okay.
 
I've flagged the issue for Alex:
https://stablebit.com/Admin/IssueAnalysis/17734
 
As for the IO deadlock (that's not entirely accurate, as to what is going on), that shouldn't affect the local disk storage, but may affect the file storage one. And it's a complicated issue, that Alex is working hard on try to fix.

This is a complicated answer actually. Unfortunately.
 
Since you're using WHS2011... it depends on how long. Older versions of DrivePool don't properly identify the different pools, so if you connect the drives into the other system, it may merge the pools. (I experienced this first hand recently, actually).
 
However, if the pools are "newer", they should include the proper identifiers. In this case, as soon as you connect the additional disks, it will see the disks and create a secondary pool, without any problems.
 
 
 
If the first happens, ... or if you just want to "prep' the disks just in case this happens, the process is rather simple and there is absolutely no formatting required.
In this case, deactivate and uninstall StableBit DrivePool from the system you're going to decommission.  Once you've done that, enable "show hidden files" on the system.  Find the "PoolPart.xxxxx" folder on one of the drives.  Move the content of this folder into the root of the disk (eg, out of the PoolPart.xxxxx folder).  Repeat this for all of the drives in the pool. Shut down the system, and remove the drives. Put the drives into the new system (shutting down the system first, if necessary). Add the disks to a new pool. "Seed" the pool (this should like similar, as it's essentially the opposite of what you've done:http://wiki.covecube.com/StableBit_DrivePool_Q4142489

There is no problem with that. 
 
 
However, myself and various other members do use these beta builds in production. 
And for the most part, they are fairly stable. They're released in responses to specific issues, for the most part.  But if you're weary, then please hold off.

Still running good with these settings: http://atsoftware.de/2014/07/snapraid-and-drivepool-on-windows-server-2012-r2-essentials/

Do this:
http://wiki.covecube.com/StableBit_DrivePool_Q7200705B
 
Specifically, the info here is pulled from the Windows Search service.  This service sometimes has issues. Rebuilding the index should fix the issue in the dashboard.

Well, that would do it, as well.
And at least that link points you to where the settings are.

ha, well hopefully with a new board it will get past bios with the RAID card in the second PCI-E slot  (both cards work perfectly in my current board's first PCI-E slot); and i've bought a "better" board

It's more resource intensive, but it gets the job done quicker/faster during scanning which is more important to me with a big library.  But during scanning Plex gets done faster and doesn't put any hurt on my machines so I'd never consider this a reason to switch. I myself would say Emby is far more resource intensive overall when it doesn't need to be then Plex is.  read on
 
As a "power user", I too prefer the user management style of Emby over Plex.  To the "average" system op, this probably isn't as important as plex.tv gets the job done (I prefer the user control myself).
 
Not sure about your "quality comment".  Quality of what? ie Server, Clients, etc?   How do you quantify that?
 
Without core work, Emby isn't going to be able to take advantage of GPU offloading in a way to make a lot of difference across the board.  Plex could still serve up the videos to more clients even without using this offloading. Take for example the following:  In Plex land you can pre-transcode all your videos to MP4 using h.264 (4.0 comp) with an AAC audio track.  This will natively playback via Plex on every device assuming it has the bandwidth.  So if you aren't bandwidth bound (clients or server) you can direct play to many clients via Plex just by have pre-transcoded/remuxed your media to this "common/universal" format.
 
Now take this same media and playback from Emby and it's hit or miss.  For example if a user plays the same video back from Chrome web browser that they just direct played via Plex it will transcode via Emby as it will want to transcode to Webm format which isn't needed. It also needlessly downgraded the quality.  So there is really no such thing as a "universal" format for Emby as there can be for Plex.  This limits the amount of clients Emby can stream to compared to Plex with a well thought out library format.
 
This ALSO hinders the use off GPU offloading.  What good does it do to have the ability to offload up to 2 QS streams if not all clients can use 264?  The hardware offloading would be easier right now to incorporate into Plex then Emby.
 
Plex has a much better thought out "engine" for transcoding then Emby does.  You can really see the differences when you know what to look for and what are common problems.  For example how each handles transcoding when you have subtitles turned on (depends on device doing playback).  voice/audio sync problems are much more a problem with Emby than Plex, etc...  CPU use during transcoding, number of simultaneous transcodes, etc...
 
Emby right now can't compete with Plex in this department.  This to me is the "heart" of a media streaming solution.  I've got family/friends who have iPads, Androids, PS4, ChromeCasts, Samsung TVs, Xbox, Rokus, web browsers.   IMHO, when you get right down to it, you NEED to have the proper clients and a "transcode" engine that is well thought out and fully functional.  Everything else is "eye candy".
 
With that said there are other things I truly love about Emby and wish Plex would do.  I have a "love/hate" relationship both both programs!
 
Carlo

Just recently went through the pain of trying to run 5 3TB drives in RAID5 off of my Intel ICH10R controller. This proved to be very painful and left me with about a 15MB/s write speed. A friend recommended DrivePool to me, I am an old WHS user and had previously been using the Windows Storage Spaces so I thought it sounded good. The only thing It was missing for me was Parity as I didn't want full duplication. Here is my setup, I went with DisParity and I was very happy with how easy it was to setup. 
 
When I first created the DrivePool I put all 5 drives in and turned on duplication, so I had to remove duplication the remove one of the drives for parity. DisParity was a very easy point and click setup, just make sure when you add a drive that the "Ignore Hidden Files and Folders" option is unchecked. I know SnapRAID is another option but for those that would rather have a GUI, this is a nice freeware alternative.
 
 
 

Part of the reason I got the Intel server board.

Yus, I got the (reluctant) "OK" . Chris, could you please double-check this LSI card for me:
16x PCIe LSI 3WARE 9650SE-16ML
The price seems too good, I hope I'm not missing anything. This will be the first thing I want to order, since it'll coming from Germany.
 
EDIT: I had another read through the forums and found a thread (which I had read earlier) talking about a similar card, looks like it will do the job fine. So, I've ordered it and the case. I can pick up most of the other bits locally, so I will be mostly waiting on the card. I'll let you know how it all goes. Cheers

Oh! The US Robotics 14k4 and 28k8 modems! These were simply unaffordable over here for me, prices were not as alingned as they are today and even in the US they cost a lot of money. I was rarely jealous but for those..!

I have the same problem. Weird how they think that way. "what's wrong with playon" or "why isn't plex working". Less of an issue these days since I went to a dedicated VM for each of them, but in the beginning.
 
Sent from my SGH-I337M using Tapatalk

Awesome, well thank you and I think I have everything I need to know hardware-wise now, just got to start gathering components. All up, I am a little over budget, but for what I'm getting I think it's well worth it. No doubt I'll end up spending a bit more (always forget that I need this cable or that adapter plus not being able to actually get some of the parts that I sourced prices for).
 
Now, I've just got to convince my girlfriend that this is more important than a house deposit . Wish me luck!

I like to hear the BBS stuff. I hosted a C=64/Amiga user group BBS in the Fort Knox area for a few years, off a Amiga 2000 tower system, my personal computer was a home built 3000T [i had only the motherboard, I had to hack it into a generic case].  We ran Cnet BBS software. It was the wild west, I had callers from all over the world. The mainstreaming of the internet killed all that. Nice reading about your past stuff, man my wife hated me buying all that gear.
 
I left my last job about a year ago, was there 6 years administering and maintaining [as part of a team] EMC SANs in two plants connected by private dark fiber, 15 miles apart, we had two server rooms with about 400 servers of various ages, G1 to current. Saw ten year old HDD still chugging along, turn the server off, turn it back on and the drive is dead. We cancelled maintenance on the EMC stuff, so we had to go in 24/7 if a drive failed. I would guess we had one drive fail a month on average. 15K drives.
 
Anyway, I wouldn't blame any particular brand, it really didn't seem to matter.

Gringott, don't fee "weak" at all.  A modular strategy definitely isn't a bad one, at all. It just depends on your needs.
 
I also got the rackmount case for really cheap.
And as for the experience, I'll second that.
I've not really had any one brand do significantly different from the others.  And I  think that every manufacturer has had large batches of "duds", as well. 

Yup. It's done at a volume level, and can be done with any sort of files. 
 
And I have a bunch of VMs (Windows XP, WHSv1, and up of each different architecture, as well as a "work" vm and a few linux VMs).  I get roughtly 65% savings. In fact, I couldn't host all of my VMs on my 500GB SSD if I wasn't using deduplication. 

Just be aware that the stock M1015 does *not* come with IR or IT Firmware, it comes with a "true" RAID card firmware.
Flashing it with the IT/IR firmware is a "cross flash"....there is a risk that you can produce a brick during that process.
 
The M1015 is a true, low-end IBM Raid Controller, but technically identical to the 9210 HBA, only sold to OEMs,
There is another HBA model, the 9211 and luckily its firmare is compatible with the 9210.
You can force the 9211 Firmware to be flashed to the M1015, creating a 9210 (or 9211 respectively), hence.
 
If you buy a M1015 from a dealer "at the bay", some do offer it cross flashed already.
 
I own a couple, crossed flashed myself.
Since this "trick" was made public, prices for the M1015 have risen a lot.
If you want to play save, buy a "real" LSI HBA or a pre-cross flashed M1015.
Note: once cross flashed, you can swap IR/IT firmware anytime, just like with a normal 9211 HBA, using the normal flash method advertised by LSI.

I never did get into the BBS world at the time. Simply did not have the money to make it work or pay the phonebills (i.e., my parents did not). My first HDD was actually (1988?) a 20MB ST-506 in a A590 HDD and memory expansion kit which was connected to my (well, my brothers' but he did not do anything with it) A-1000. It also had a SCSI controller but those 42MB Quantum HDDs were simply way out of budget. I seem to remember that at the time there were both MFM as RLL HDDs but it's all a bit gray in my memory (sortof like the Samsung EVO-drives I guess). Good times but had I had some funds at the time, it would have been me who did google, facebook and youtube.

I have just migrated from DriveBender and back to DrivePool. I tried DriveBender for a period, but it was just slower than DrivePool. When copying many files to DriveBender (ie starting FileHistory from Windows 8), it just stopped working and I had to restart the server. TV-recordings stored in DriveBender was also very slow and uresponsive in VMC. I never had that kind of problems with DrivePool. I do think that the interface in DriveBender is a little more "fancy" but stability is just more important.
 
Anyway. To migrate back to DrivePool i did the following (on a window server 2012 essential):
 
1. Installed DrivePool alongside DriveBender. 
2. Release your DriveBender license before uninstalling
3. Set up a duplicate DrivePool on the same disks that DriveBender used.
4. Stopped DriveBender and DrivePool services from services.msc
5. Moved alle folders on physical disks from DriveBender root folder to DrivePool root folder.
6. Used the script below to move the duplicate files from DriveBenders location til DrivePools location (DriveBender stores the duplicate in a subfolder named FOLDER.DUPLICATE.$DRIVEBENDER, so you will have to move all the content in that folder to the folder below).
7. Started DrivePool and uninstalled DriveBender.
8. Used computer management to give DrivePool the same disksletter that DriveBender had.
 
Bat file to move files stored in FOLDER.DUPLICATE.$DRIVEBENDER to the directory below (hidden files will no longer be hidden as move doesn't move hidden files). This script has to be run on all the physical disks. Stand in the \poolpart.* folder. To try  it out, stand in a subfolder where you can't do much harm.
 
Please note that I give ABSOLUTELY NO GUARANTEE that the script will work for you. Try it out first, and if it seem to work, remove the echo
 
@echo off for /r %%f in (FOLDER.DUPLICATE.$DRIVEBENDER) do if exist %%f (   echo %%f   cd "%%f" echo  attrib -h *.*   if exist *.* ( echo    move *.* ..   )   cd .. echo  rd "%%f" )  
All in all it took just 1 hour to set up and migrate from DriveBender to DrivePool and I did not have to duplicate 6 tb.