New user, couple of questions.

[fvgazi]

I'm sure this question gets asked once a week. How to hide drives in "This PC" now that Drivepool has become the main Drive location? 

I don't want to see E\:, F:\, G:\ etc.

This is literally one of the main reasons I wanted a pooling solution.

This, in my opinion, should be laid out in the f.a.q.

 

When does balancing happen?

I added six drives with varying amounts of data. Created new folders in the pooled drive and "seeded" data to them.

Within an hour it seemed like everything got balanced.

I added a fresh 6tb drive yesterday afternoon and it still sits empty. Like it's in the pool, but the pool isn't putting anything on it.

This isn't a huge deal if the drive will eventually get used in the pool, but for now, it is super visually annoying the crap outta me. 

 

[Spider99]

To remove the drive letters go to computer management>disk management and right click on each drive in turn and choose - "change drive letter and path"

 

either remove the letter or mount to a folder ( so you can access them easily later - directly)

 

As for when the balance happens thats up to you and how drives get filled up - check out the balancing options and plugins etc

[fvgazi]

"To remove the drive letters go to computer management>disk management and right click on each drive in turn and choose - "change drive letter and path"

 

either remove the letter or mount to a folder ( so you can access them easily later - directly)"

 

Ok. Makes sense. Thank you.

 

"As for when the balance happens thats up to you and how drives get filled up - check out the balancing options and plugins etc"

 

This I don't really get. I went through the plugins and balancing options. There's no manual way to trigger it and the default setting looks to me like it would've balanced itself regardless.

I hope you get what I mean.

[fvgazi]

Just mounting" the drives in a folder did not get rid of them showing in "This PC".

There should be a button in the Drivepool settings that just accomplishes this task. 

Just my opinion, but I don't think a hacky workaround should be the answer in such a renowned paid for software.

Major disappointment.  

[Christopher (Drashna)]

You'd want to remove the drive letters in disk management. 

 

instead of clicking on "change ...", you'd click "remove". 

 

 

That said, the reason that this isn't part of the UI ... well has several reasons.  The first being that StableBit DrivePool doesn't actually "care" what the drive letter is, and doesn't actually require one.   So this is entirely a "cosmetic" thing, and customizable in Windows. 

 

Additionally, part of the reason that this isn't included, is that we generally wanted to keep the UI very clean and minimalistic.  Since many of these options are easily accessed elsewhere in the OS, they weren't included as options.  

HOwever, there is a feature request already to add the disks without mount points (drive letters or folder mounts). 

 

That said, having the option to customize this from within the UI should probably be an option, if only for convenience. 

 

https://stablebit.com/Admin/IssueAnalysis/27467

 

When does balancing happen?

I added six drives with varying amounts of data. Created new folders in the pooled drive and "seeded" data to them.

Within an hour it seemed like everything got balanced.

I added a fresh 6tb drive yesterday afternoon and it still sits empty. Like it's in the pool, but the pool isn't putting anything on it.

This isn't a huge deal if the drive will eventually get used in the pool, but for now, it is super visually annoying the crap outta me. 

 

As for balancing, this happens based on your balancing settings. 

 

http://stablebit.com/Support/DrivePool/2.X/Manual?Section=Balancing%20Settings

 

If you're using the "balance immediately" option, then this happens when it's checked.  

However, if you have the "not more often than every x hours" option enabled, this it happens timed from the service startup, IIRC.  

 

Otherwise, there is an option to run it at a specific time (default being 1AM), each day. 

 

 

 

As for the new disk sitting empty, this is entirely normal.  Balancing doesn't move files around a lot. In fact, it only moves data around in very specific circumstances. 

 

The "StableBit Scanner" balancer will move data off of a disk if StableBit Scanner detects damage (unreadable sectors). It can optionally be configured to do so with SMART warnings. 

The "Prevent Drive Overfill" will move data around if the drive hits 90+% capacity (can be configured) and moves files off until it's 85% full or less (again, configurable). 

The "Duplication Space Optimizer" balancer will move data around explicitly to remove the "unusable for duplication" space on the pool. 

 

 

But there is no built in balancer that will force the pool to use a new disk.  This will happen over time, normally, as new files are placed on the disk with the most available free space (measured absolutely, not on percentage). 

 

that said, the "Disk Space Equalizer" balancer plugin can be installed and enabled on the system to forcibly move the data around so that all of the disks are being used, equally. 

 

https://stablebit.com/DrivePool/Plugins

[fvgazi]

I'm starting to see the balancing/filling of the newest drive in the pool this morning. 

I got a little worried probably because the initial pool balancing happened pretty quick.

 

Drives visible in "This PC"...

This should have absolutely been a built in feature from day one in my opinion.

A button/switch that could make them disappear and reappear.

I'm ok with the suggested workaround.

I have to say though, I fully expected this to be built in. Guess I should've tried it out a little longer before I purchased.

MAJOR disappointment.

 

I suspect I'll need to reboot my machine now to get this hack to work?

Because at this point, the drives are still visible.

[Christopher (Drashna)]

The problem with that being a built in feature is that every time you add a new drive (or replace a drive), then suddenly, the software is moving around a bunch of data.   And in a manner that may not be needed.   It's additional activity whose main point is to "look nice" in the drive list, but functionality wise, isn't needed for every (or most) systems, as this will happen over time with usage anyways. 

 

This is why the balancer is an optional plugin. 

 

 

 

For the drive letters, no, no reboot is necessary. It may take a minute or to to be updated in StableBit DrivePool's UI, but it should be reflected in "This PC" immediately. 

 

As for the UI stuff, Alex (the developer) has reviewed the feature request already, and this may make it in, and in the near future. Especially with the addition of hierarchical pools, which may make things a lot more "messy". 

 

 

 

As for licenses, if you are very unhappy here, we can issue a refund, if you'd like.  We'd rather have you walking away happy, than "stuck" with a product you don't like. 

[fvgazi]

I am not so unhappy that I want a refund. The software does its job. Minus what I think would be the icing on the cake. 

 

I finally got the "remove drive letter" trick to work. 

Not sure what the problem was, but this is a new Ryzen build so I'll just put the blame there. Hehehe.

 

Thank you sincerely for your help and patience. 

[Christopher (Drashna)]

Well, glad to hear it. And I've passed on the feedback to Alex (the developer). So we've definitely listened to what you've said. 

 

As for the Ryzen stuff, yeah, I've heard of some weird issues/behavior.  Growing pains, most likely, since it is a very new platform.

 

 

And if you have more feedback, don't hesitate.