Getting Ready to Install DP - Have some fears

[Jjrjr1]

Hi.

I just purchased the Stablebit Bundle.

Having a little trepidation before installing it for my Plex Media Server.

I whish I had Drive Pool when I started.

Soo....  Want to know some things before I Drive Pool my HUGE library of media.  Currently 10 HDDs totaling about 50 TB.

1. All my media is currently spread across many separate drives. Each drive has the exact same directory naming and structure.  What will happen when I put these drives into the Pool?  Will the content of BOTH same named directories be merged??  If this is the case, what will happen if each same named directories have the same filename media file within?

2. I read that each individual drive can be removed from the pool and be accessed separately from the pool.  Is this true?  If so how does Drive pool manage free space on individual drives?  Will Drive Pool span files across HDDs??

Thanks for your help.

John

[Christopher (Drashna)]

You posted this as a ticket too, but I'll post the responce here, as well. 

Quote

1. Well, initially "nothing".  The software doesn't move the existing content into the pool when adding it.  So, the data would remain where it was, and be considered non-pooled data. 
   You would have to "seed" the data before it showed up on the pool: http://wiki.covecube.com/StableBit_DrivePool_Q4142489
   
   After seeding the pool, all matching folders will be merged on the pool.  If the relative path of files is the same (eg F:\TV\Black Mirror\Episode 1.mp4, and G:\TV\Black Mirror\Episode 1.mp4), once they're seeded, they'd be seen as duplicates, and then "processed" (they're checked, to see if they're matching, and remove "extra copies" if there are too many). 
   
   If you have the same folder but different files (eg F:\TV\Black Mirror\Episode 1.mp4, and G:\TV\Black Mirror\Episode 2.mp4), once the data is seeded, you'd see X:\TV\Black Mirror\, and it would have both Episode 1.mp4 and Episode 2.mp4 in the folder. 
   
   Basically, StableBit DrivePool concatenates (merges) the contents of all of the disks. 
    
2. Yes.  We store the pooled data in a "PoolPart.xxxxx" folder on each pool.  The data is all relative to this path.  Any data outside of this path is not pooled and considered "Other" data. 
   But the data inside the PoolPart folder are normal files, and can be accessed normally. 
   
   As for free space, that gets complicated, actually! 
   The pool itself shows the combined free space, unmodified (eg, enabling duplication doesn't half it), because the duplication setting may not be consistent for the entire pool (you can have different levels of duplication on different folders).  
   When querying the disk when writing files, the software determines which disk to place it on, and then queries that disk for free space.  Is there is enough, then it gets written. Otherwise, it will give you a free space error, even if the total free space is large enough.  (and no, it won't span disks)
   
   As for how files placement is determined, the default is to place files on the disk with the most available free space (to avoid free space issues, and to equalize the usage between the disks over time).

 

Also, if you're using Plex, don't put the database/storage on the pool.  It has issues.  But the media is absolutely fine. 

 

I think I've answered everything (and maybe more).  But if I missed anything, or if you need any clarification, or have any more questions, don't hesitate to ask. 

[Jjrjr1]

Thanks so much.

Did not know the right place to ask this.

John

[Christopher (Drashna)]

Either is fine, but the contact site is better (we check it more frequently). 

 

And you're very welcome!