New user with issues and problems

[Nyteowls]

-I'm using Windows Server Essentials 2012 R2.  When I first installed drivepool (and for the next few reboots), I had the dashboard window and I also had a separate drivepool window (which was nice).  I had to shut the server down completely for a few days and now when I boot it back up I have the dashboard scanner/drivepool/cloud tabs but no separate window for drivepool.  I'm guessing that a plugin for the server OS might have restrictions, so was the separate window a bug after a fresh install or how do I go about opening the separate drivepool window again?
 

-I inserted disks in a random order and I guess the OS gave them a disk number based on when the hard drives powered on, i.e. the last disk bay says disk4?  I was reading somewhere that this can't be undone easily?

 

-All of my disks are filled to the brim and I already read over a few things on the covecube wiki. My drivepool is D: and I'm not sure if I mounted the disk first then added it to the pool or vice versa, I think I tried it both ways then decided to try and get more info so I have this setup properly for my situation.  Following the wiki I removed the disk letter then mounted the path for my first disk on the drivepool as "D:/DrivePool/R4D4" or (Row4Disk4), then I added it to the pool and before I went to stop the StableBit DrivePool system service (dedup was turned off in advance) to move the folders into the hidden poolpart folder, I noticed that the drivepool was already populated with files after I mounted that disk+added it to the pool...  I'm confused on how these three actions affect the drivepool structure/function and what is the proper order to do this with full disks?

 

One of the main reasons for this was that I have a file structure on my main computer that shows what files are on which disk.  So I wanted to keep both the file structure and the physical disk structure the same by putting them in their own folder on the pool based on their corresponding hardware location  i.e. D:/DrivePool/R1D1 thru R4D4 (Row1Disk1 thru Row4Disk4) instead of dumping them all into one giant pool right away.  Now I could just organize them separately outside of the pool, but it would be faster if I could pool some together as I'm organizing them for faster sorting then I'll move them into fewer main folders later on.

Thanks.

[Christopher (Drashna)]

For the separate window stuff, click on the "safe mode options" (under "help", IIRC). 

from there, there should be two "DrivePool" add-ins. Make sure both are enabled. 

 

 

 

 

-I inserted disks in a random order and I guess the OS gave them a disk number based on when the hard drives powered on, i.e. the last disk bay says disk4?  I was reading somewhere that this can't be undone easily?

 

Ugh, yeah.  there isn't really a way to fix it.  And it can change between boots.  It's ... frustrating when you have a bunch of drives.....

 

 

-All of my disks are filled to the brim and I already read over a few things on the covecube wiki. My drivepool is D: and I'm not sure if I mounted the disk first then added it to the pool or vice versa, I think I tried it both ways then decided to try and get more info so I have this setup properly for my situation.  Following the wiki I removed the disk letter then mounted the path for my first disk on the drivepool as "D:/DrivePool/R4D4" or (Row4Disk4), then I added it to the pool and before I went to stop the StableBit DrivePool system service (dedup was turned off in advance) to move the folders into the hidden poolpart folder, I noticed that the drivepool was already populated with files after I mounted that disk+added it to the pool...  I'm confused on how these three actions affect the drivepool structure/function and what is the proper order to do this with full disks?

 

You want to mount the disks to physical disk.  In this case, to "C:\DrivePool\R4D4" rather than D:\ (the Pool). 

 

As for the pool, as soon as you move the files into the hidden "PoolPart" folder, it's considered pooled data.  

remeasuring is needed for the balancing engine, and to ensure duplication is properly set up. 

 

 

 

One of the main reasons for this was that I have a file structure on my main computer that shows what files are on which disk.  So I wanted to keep both the file structure and the physical disk structure the same by putting them in their own folder on the pool based on their corresponding hardware location  i.e. D:/DrivePool/R1D1 thru R4D4 (Row1Disk1 thru Row4Disk4) instead of dumping them all into one giant pool right away.  Now I could just organize them separately outside of the pool, but it would be faster if I could pool some together as I'm organizing them for faster sorting then I'll move them into fewer main folders later on.

 

Well, identifying the drives is much easier when mounting them to folders.

 

As for the file placement of the files based on disk, the software isn't really designed to facilitate this.  So while it's possible, it's less than ideal

 

The entire point of the pool is to dump everything onto the pool, and let it manage the locations transparently, so you don't have to worry about micromanaging the data.  

 

And ideally, with duplication enabled, so that if any single disk fails, you don't lose data. 

 

 

That said, you can use the "file Placement rules" feature to lock folders to a specific disk.  

[Nyteowls]

For the standalone drivepool window, I went to the Dashboard help and then the safe mode settings.  It has Built-in Add-ins and then External Add-ins.  Under the External Add-ins there is only the three: Clouddrive, Drivepool, and Scanner.  All are enabled, but only one Drivepool listed and not two like you mentioned.  Is there a way to add or edit that in?

 

Ahh ok, that was my main hang up then, the mounting.  The wiki did list mount on C:\DrivePool as an example, but it didnt specify if it was suppose to be the OS disk non-pool location.  I'm guessing that the drives can also be mounted to any non-pooled disk as well?The mounting location is also like a shortcut folder for the disks to be accessed from?

 

I'll probably be using SnapRaid, but for right now I dont have space for any backups.  I'm just hoping nothing breaks in the meantime...

[Christopher (Drashna)]

Well, the stand alone UI should work regardless. 

 

IIRC, there should be a "Advanced: Manage DrivePool" link under the "Storage" tab. 

 

But as long as the DrivePool add-on is enabled, it should show up as a tab in the console. 

 

 

As for the mounting, yeah, it should be a non pool location (pool or pooled disk).  The system disk is the best/easiest place. 

 

And yes, the mount point is essentially a file system based short cut to access the drives. 

[Nyteowls]

The "Advanced: Manage DrivePool" worked to bring it up.  I also found it in the apps section when I was looking for my UPS icon.

 

I'm Rockin N' Rollin now, thanks for the replies.

[Christopher (Drashna)]

I'm glad to hear it, and you're very welcome!