Swap Option and other questions

[Korok]

Hello

I am new to DrivePool. I am one of the many to switch from DriveBender.
I saw some functions I really like that did not exist for DriveBender but there are also functions I dont see or that DrivePool das not have.
I searched the Forum in FAQ and was able to get many answeres to questions. What is still open is:

For Information: My Pool will have 7 Drives. For testing I only have 3 right now in DrivePool

#1 I liked the option to be able to Swap an old drive with a new one in Drive Bender.
Not just adding the new drive to the Pool, but First Move all Data from OldDrive to NewDrive, then remove old drive, then Balance the complete system.
A direct replacement of the old one.
I would like to have this option even more for DrivePool, as I can here set specific folders that should be saved on a specific drive.
What happens to that folder when I remove that drive? Will the files be moved to any other drive? (Delete the rule for location).
Do I have to create all these location rules again on the new drive?
It would be great if I could swap drives and all these configurations get transfered to the new drive that I replaced to old one with.
 

#2 A question about the Scanner. I can set the interval of days the scanner should check my drives. But I only see the option to set it globally for all drives. 
That would mean that all drives will be scanned in 90Days. Than again, all drives in 90Days. And nothing between. Is it not possible to scatter that more.
With a big Pool with many TB, it is a huge task to scan them all, as scanning is not happening in parallel, but only one by one. 
From what I saw from the 3 drives I have currently in the system, the scanner checks a little bit on this drive then the other then the other. So it wil probably finsh them all at once.
I woud like it better, if it focus on one drive and then the next. My NAS is turned of most of the time. It can be, that the Scanner fished scanning and then I dont use the NAS for 3 Months. If I then turn it on again it would start all from the beginning. So it would always be scanning when he is on.  I already changed the interval to half a year.
 

#3 How to see what files were lost if a drive breaks. I dont care for the files that have a copy on another drive.
I would just like to know what files are now gone for good. Is there any way or a good tool for that?
As I understand it, DrivePool does not have a database or anything like that to know what files were on the now missing drive.
I never lost a drive on DriveBender, but I think I had read somwere that drivebender will give you a CSV file for the missing files.
 

#4
I am confused with the "Duplicated" and "Unduplicated" meaning.
For me till now there was the "Original" file and the "Copy" of the original file, thats what I am used to from DriveBender.
But it looks like for DrivePool, there is no Original and Copy of it. All are handled as originals.
But to make sure I get it right:
Duplicated = All Files that have 2 or more Copies (Files marked to have duplication)
Unduplicated = File that have only one entity on one drive. (Files set to not have duplications)
So about how the options are set here means:

On Bay1 there can be Files that have only one entity and also files that have many copies.
Bay4 only accepts files that are set to have copies. (in this case the file would be saved in Bay1 and Bay4 but not allowed in Bay6)
And Bay6 accepts only the files that will not have any duplications.

Did I understand that correct?
If yes, that would mean I block any file that is set to have at least one duplication, to be saved on the drive in Bay6 accordig to my understanding.
What would happen if there is a larg folder (2TB) on Bay6 that had no duplication till now and I now change it to have a duplication. 
Will DrivePool remove that folder from Bay6 and save 2TB on Bay1 and 2TB on Bay4? Or will it stay on Bay6 and make the copy on Bay1 or Bay4?

 

Thanks

[Shane]

Hi Korok, I'll have a go at answering:

On 4/3/2025 at 1:44 AM, Korok said:

#1 I liked the option to be able to Swap an old drive with a new one in Drive Bender.
Not just adding the new drive to the Pool, but First Move all Data from OldDrive to NewDrive, then remove old drive, then Balance the complete system.
A direct replacement of the old one.
I would like to have this option even more for DrivePool, as I can here set specific folders that should be saved on a specific drive.
What happens to that folder when I remove that drive? Will the files be moved to any other drive? (Delete the rule for location).
Do I have to create all these location rules again on the new drive?
It would be great if I could swap drives and all these configurations get transfered to the new drive that I replaced to old one with.

• There's no "one click"-style option built into DrivePool to do a direct swap between an old and new drive.
• If you remove a drive, files on that drive will be moved to the other drives according to any rules set for those drives or the pool in general.
• You'd have to either (a) update your location rules in advance of removing the drive or (b) update your location rules afterwards. If you have a rule that says files can ONLY go on a particular drive and you remove that drive it will revert to allowing ANY drive (otherwise it'd get stuck) so I'd recommend updating your rules in advance as it will ensure the files go where you want.

On 4/3/2025 at 1:44 AM, Korok said:

#2 A question about the Scanner. I can set the interval of days the scanner should check my drives. But I only see the option to set it globally for all drives. 
That would mean that all drives will be scanned in 90Days. Than again, all drives in 90Days. And nothing between. Is it not possible to scatter that more.
With a big Pool with many TB, it is a huge task to scan them all, as scanning is not happening in parallel, but only one by one. 
From what I saw from the 3 drives I have currently in the system, the scanner checks a little bit on this drive then the other then the other. So it wil probably finsh them all at once.
I woud like it better, if it focus on one drive and then the next. My NAS is turned of most of the time. It can be, that the Scanner fished scanning and then I dont use the NAS for 3 Months. If I then turn it on again it would start all from the beginning. So it would always be scanning when he is on.  I already changed the interval to half a year.

• If you right-click a disk in the GUI there should be the option "Disk Settings..." which will let you set change some settings just for that disk.
• Also, buried in the Advanced settings for Scanner is the option "ScanMaximumConcurrent" which lets you change how many drives Scanner scans at the same time - but unless it's been updated it may instead be the maximum per controller. E.g. if you set it to 2 and you have five disks on controller A and five disks on controller B it might scan 2 of each at the same time. Haven't tested this recently.

On 4/3/2025 at 1:44 AM, Korok said:

#3 How to see what files were lost if a drive breaks. I dont care for the files that have a copy on another drive.
I would just like to know what files are now gone for good. Is there any way or a good tool for that?
As I understand it, DrivePool does not have a database or anything like that to know what files were on the now missing drive.
I never lost a drive on DriveBender, but I think I had read somwere that drivebender will give you a CSV file for the missing files.

• Correct, there's no database of files kept in DrivePool. You'd need to find a third-party tool and run it on a regular basis.

On 4/3/2025 at 1:44 AM, Korok said:

But it looks like for DrivePool, there is no Original and Copy of it. All are handled as originals.
But to make sure I get it right:
Duplicated = All Files that have 2 or more Copies (Files marked to have duplication)
Unduplicated = File that have only one entity on one drive. (Files set to not have duplications)

• That's correct! Any given file simply exists on one (no duplication) or more (duplication) drives.

On 4/3/2025 at 1:44 AM, Korok said:

On Bay1 there can be Files that have only one entity and also files that have many copies.
Bay4 only accepts files that are set to have copies. (in this case the file would be saved in Bay1 and Bay4 but not allowed in Bay6)
And Bay6 accepts only the files that will not have any duplications.

Did I understand that correct?
If yes, that would mean I block any file that is set to have at least one duplication, to be saved on the drive in Bay6 accordig to my understanding.
What would happen if there is a larg folder (2TB) on Bay6 that had no duplication till now and I now change it to have a duplication. 
Will DrivePool remove that folder from Bay6 and save 2TB on Bay1 and 2TB on Bay4? Or will it stay on Bay6 and make the copy on Bay1 or Bay4?

• Correct, and while I'm not sure whether it would "duplicate first and move second" or "move first and duplicate second" (I'd guess the former) the end result would be the duplicated files being on both Bay1 and Bay4 and no longer on Bay6.