Can you move a pool from one machine to another?

[xilex]

Hi all, I wanted to know if there is a proper way to do this. If I wanted to move an entire pool (all drives) from one computer to another, are there any precautions to take? Will DrivePool on the new system recognize that this is a pool? Thanks.

[JazzMan]

I just did this, no problem. You should just be able to install DP, migrate or buy a new license, attach the drives and DP should recognize the pool.

 

Someone else may know a few caveats like perhaps if you have complex duplication, placement, and balancing rules.

[Christopher (Drashna)]

Yeah.

 

And  balancing settings (including file placement rules) won't be transferred to the new system.

Duplication settings and the content will be though. 

 

The other issue is NTFS permissions. They may not work properly on the new system, if you defined them using user accounts or custom groups.  If you have issues with the permissions, then you may want to do this:

http://wiki.covecube.com/StableBit_DrivePool_Q5510455

 

And this may take a while, depending on the size and composition of the pool.

[xilex]

 

 

The other issue is NTFS permissions. They may not work properly on the new system, if you defined them using user accounts or custom groups.  If you have issues with the permissions, then you may want to do this:

http://wiki.covecube.com/StableBit_DrivePool_Q5510455

 

 

 

I'm not extremely knowledgeable about NTFS permissions. How do I know if they were defined with user accounts? The way I currently share my shares under Windows 7 requires that when I access the folder from another client I will have to put in the username/password of the account that originally shared them. This sounds like what you are referring to?

 

What if the account username/password is the same on the old system and the new system I am moving to?

[JazzMan]

It isn't really about the login account(s), it is about the owner and permissions that have been assigned to each folder/file.  NTFS tracks this as part of the file system.  Some users and security groups are built-in to Windows with predefined Security IDs which are the same on all machines (such as Everyone), other users and groups have SIDs derived from the machine they're defined on.

 

By default the owner and permissions NTFS assigns are at the group level and for built-in groups.  If the old files were always on a single-user system where that user was in the Administrators group you should be fine.  But, if any of the pool/files were exposed on a network share, multiple-account computer, copied/moved via a removable NTFS disk onto the current system, etc. then they may have stray unexpected permissions.  Some software, e.g. where security is important, may also create files with special permissions.

 

I found NTFS Permissions Reporter (http://www.cjwdev.com/Software/NtfsReports/Info.html) useful in tracking down files/folders that were not set with the default permissions and inheritance.

[Christopher (Drashna)]

I'm not extremely knowledgeable about NTFS permissions. How do I know if they were defined with user accounts? The way I currently share my shares under Windows 7 requires that when I access the folder from another client I will have to put in the username/password of the account that originally shared them. This sounds like what you are referring to?

 

What if the account username/password is the same on the old system and the new system I am moving to?

 

 

That's not a problem.  Even people that are experts with NTFS can still get tripped up with the NTFS permissions.  

 

The easiest way to check, is to check the security permissions (right click -> properties -> security) on the new system.  If you see entries that have a long string of letters and numbers like this: 

S-1-5-21-1976753858-2077894621-3616986626-500

 

Then you'd probably what to remove/reset them.

 

However, if you didn't mess with this stuff, then you're probably fine, and this wouldn't be a concern. 

 

 

 

It isn't really about the login account(s), it is about the owner and permissions that have been assigned to each folder/file.  NTFS tracks this as part of the file system.  Some users and security groups are built-in to Windows with predefined Security IDs which are the same on all machines (such as Everyone), other users and groups have SIDs derived from the machine they're defined on.

 

By default the owner and permissions NTFS assigns are at the group level and for built-in groups.  If the old files were always on a single-user system where that user was in the Administrators group you should be fine.  But, if any of the pool/files were exposed on a network share, multiple-account computer, copied/moved via a removable NTFS disk onto the current system, etc. then they may have stray unexpected permissions.  Some software, e.g. where security is important, may also create files with special permissions.

 

I found NTFS Permissions Reporter (http://www.cjwdev.com/Software/NtfsReports/Info.html) useful in tracking down files/folders that were not set with the default permissions and inheritance.

 

 

Yup, this.  

 

The big thing is that when you create a user account, a unique SID is assigned to it.  Built in accounts always have the same SIDs, so they transfer between systems without an issue. But the accounts you create have randomly generated ones, so even the same username and password will not be the same.  Hence this issue.

 

And yeah, the software linked is a good idea, if you're not sure.  

 

And sorry to overwhelm!  But learning the NTFS permissions and how they work may be a good idea anyways!