StableBit Scanner Balancer Evacuation

[CrazyHorse]

Hi. I'm running both StableBit Scanner and DrivePool. Scanner had flagged one of my SSDs in the pool as damage. The StableBit Scanner (#3) Balancer (in DrivePool) automatically moved all the data off the flagged drive to other drives in the pool. Pretty cool. I've since rescanned the "damaged" drive in Scanner, and it came back all sectors healthy. DrivePool will not move any data back to the previously damaged (now healthy) drive. Is there a way to reset this "damaged flag" in DrivePool? I believe the drive was healthy all along, and there was an interruption during the scan that flagged it damage. I'd like DrivePool to reintegrate the drive in the balancer.

Thanks!

[Shane]

Hi, if the drive is coming back healthy but is not being filled, try removing and re-adding the drive.

[Christopher (Drashna)]

If you don't see the red "real time placement limiters" arrows on the drive in question, then it may be just that the drive has been evacuated, but doesn't have enough free space to be used for new files (eg, it has less free space than some of the other drives in the pool).  This is because the balancing doesn't forcibly equalize the usage (though there is a balancer that you can enable to force that behavior)

[CrazyHorse]

I apologize for my ridiculously late reply. I am very grateful for the responses. I must have had my email notifications off. I just wanted to say that Christopher's comment about balancing not forcibly equalizing the drives was the issue. I enabled the Disk Space Equalizer in the the balancers section, and DrivePool started putting files back on the empty drive in question.

Follow up question... How is DrivePool supposed to work with default balancer settings? Is it supposed to put new files that are added to the pool into the most empty drive? Is it bad to forcibly equalize the drives like I am wanting to do? I just assumed the drivepool would equalize anytime I added a new drive. I have (qty 4) WD Red 2TB SSD drives in a single drivepool. Am I doing this right?

Thanks in advance. I'll monitor replies this time. Cheers.

[Christopher (Drashna)]

Well, glad that it was a simple issue!

And by default, StableBit DrivePool puts new files on the disks with the most available free space, measured absolutely (eg total bytes free, not by percentage).  Over time, this should lead to roughly equal usage.  

As for forcibly equalizing the disks, no, it's not bad to do.  But the default settings are setup to minimize the amount of balancing needed.  They mostly deal with specific edge cases.   Because a one time move is fine, but moving files constantly can/will increase wear and tear over time. 

And yes, I would recommend turning off that balancer once it's run.  If you add a new disk and want to equailze the usage again, turn it on until that's done. Rince and repeat. 

[CrazyHorse]

Christopher, thanks again! I appreciate all the detailed info. I'll continue as you stated, turning on equalizer for single use cases, and default balancer setting for the rest of the time. Big fan of the product and your support. Thanks again.

[Christopher (Drashna)]

You are very welcome, and glad to hear it!

And hopefully, everything else is smooth sailing!