Where does DrivePool store file locations?

[andrewds]

I've been diligently working on configuring my system so that spinning disks don't spin unnecessarily. I've got a SSD in place to serve up commonly accessed file types. Browsing the application being served retrieves files only stored on that SSD or the OS SSD. However, for some reason the spinning disks are also waking up when browsing. Does DrivePool store file location information directly on the disks? In other words, does it have to spin up the disks to determine where the requested files are located in the pool? Or is it caching those in the DrivePool application folders somewhere? I'm trying to determine if the disks are still waking up because DrivePool is retrieving information or if it's something about the application being served that's causing it?

I don't actually see any disk activity from the application when this occurs so I'm leaning towards DrivePool.

Thanks!

[Christopher (Drashna)]

StableBit DrivePool pulls the directory list for the pool directly from the disks, and merges them in memory, basically.  So if you have something that is scanning the folders, you may see activity. 

And specifically, the files are stored in hidden "PoolPart.xxxxx" folders in the root of each drive. 

Also, if you're seeing activity from DrivePool on the disks, it may be worth disabling the "bitlocker detection" option in the advanced settings: 
https://wiki.covecube.com/StableBit_DrivePool_2.x_Advanced_Settings

It's the example used, in fact. 

 

 

[andrewds]

Thanks @Christopher (Drashna). I have already disabled BitLocker to eliminate that activity. If I'm understanding the rest of your explanation correctly, you're saying that anytime the application needs to retrieve a file from any disk in the pool all of the disks will wake up from sleep so that DrivePool can determine upon which disk a file is residing in order to deliver it back to the application. Is that correct?