More free space on drives after upgrading from WHS v1

[Jeff]

Hi there,

 

I'm a new user, I just upgraded my WHS version 1 installation to WHS 2011 + DrivePool, by following the instructions posted here: http://forum.covecube.com/discussion/574/how-to-migrating-from-whs-v1s-drive-extender.

 

I'm at the stage where all my old data is now sitting in P:\shares (where P: is the new pool), but I noticed in the WHS Dashboard that there is a lot more free space than there should be.  I'm wondering if somehow all the duplicated files were removed.  The difference in free space is close to what I calculate as being the size of duplicated data in WHS v1.  I haven't yet copied my data into the new shares or set duplication for them in DrivePool, but could DrivePool have removed duplication that quickly?

 

I don't know if this is related, but at the beginning of the process, when the (empty) default server folders were moved from D: to the pool, the Dashboard stated that the folders were moved but that it "cannot enable shadow copy on the hard drive". 

 

Thanks.  I'm trying not to freak out right now.

[Christopher (Drashna)]

It is possible that it removed the duplicated files. You should be able to check that in the Dashboard. And you should be able to check the duplication status there as well.

 

 

Another possibility (and more likely) is that Windows dumped the previous "Shadow Copies" (what runs "Previous Versions") from the drive, freeing up a good chunk of data.

[Jeff]

Thanks Drashna.

 

I think it was the duplication, actually.  I didn't post this originally, because I didn't have any details, but shortly after moving the "shares" folders into the pool folder I launched the Dashboard.  There was some kind of quickly-updating status at the bottom of the window, like many files were being processed by something, and then the status went away.  The whole UI was new to me so I didn't really pay close attention to it.

 

I'm thinking that what happened is that I copied everything into the pool, but as far as DrivePool was concerned no folder duplication had been enabled, so it enforced that state.  I could be wrong, but after posting my question above I then set up my WHS shared folders and moved all my data out of "shares" and into those folders.  I enabled folder duplication, and DrivePool ran the rest of the night creating duplicates (there was about 3% left to duplicate by morning).

 

I'm not yet sure how to interpret all the DrivePool screens.  If memory serves, one of the tabs did show space taken up by folder duplication, but I wasn't sure if that is what *should* be taken up once everything is duplicated or if that's what's actually used.

 

(As for the Shadow Copies, that error message occurred when using the Dashboard to move the empty stock WHS 2011 shares out of D: and into the pool.  You know WHS v1 best, but I didn't think it typically enabled shadow copies in the drive extender drives.)

[Christopher (Drashna)]

Here is a good post to check out the balancing information:

http://blog.covecube.com/2012/08/stablebit-drivepool-1-2-beta/

 

But basically, it shows the current layout in bars, and shows arrows on those bars for what it wants to balance it to.

 

As for WHSv1. It depends on the system. If you had an "RTM"  install, it did enable snapshots (shadow copies) of the pool, but the "PP1" install disk disabled that as it would sometimes have issues, and wasn't reliable. But if you installed the RTM version and updated, it didn't necessarily disable this setting (and it definitely didn't purge the existing ones.

[Jeff]

Sorry, I read the link you posted about drive balancing, but I'm not sure what that has to do with my duplication issue.  However, it's funny that you posted that, because I was about to post a separate question about drive balancing.

 

So when I set things up last night and noticed that my disks weren't as full after installing DrivePool, I immediately disabled automatic balancing so I could investigate things.  Then, once I realized that the duplicated files seemed to be gone, I enabled folder duplication and DrivePool started making copies.  Fast forward to now: All four of my drives have almost exactly the same amount of data used.  It appears that the balancer ran even though it was disabled.  I can think of no other explanation; prior to DrivePool one disk was at 80% full and one at 23%, and now everything's the same.

 

This is most curious.

[Christopher (Drashna)]

Sorry, I meant to post more. I've been a bit off the last couple days (been a bit sick), so my mind hasn't been 100%.

But part of the reason I posted the link, is that it does a brilliant job of illustrating and demonstrating the UI. Which I figured would be helpful. Apparently, preemptively helpful too.

 

Okay, one thing here: Balancing != Duplicating.  Even if you have balancing off or disabled, it will still be duplicate the files. Or de-duplicate them as needed.  Balancing controls *where* the files go, not how many copies there are.  I just want to make sure that is clear (it can be a confusing difference).

 

As for why it apparently removed the duplication, I'm not sure. It should detect the duplicates. I'd have to double check to see if it will set them to duplicated, but I beleive that it won't by default. And that would definitely cause the behavior that you saw.