Connecting to remote drivepool server from Server 2012 R2 dashboard

[Benoire]

Hi,

 

I've got a Server 2012 R2 primary domain controller running the essentials role and an additional Server 2012 R2 install acting as my dedicated storage server.  I would like to access the storage servers drivepool setup from the dashboard but I cannot get it to connect, it only shows the server running on the domain controller.  Both servers are accessed using the main domain administrator account and are all tied together an accessible.

 

I presume that remote connections are supported in an active directory environment?  If so, any pointers on what to look for to help me fix this?

 

Thanks,

 

Chris

[Christopher (Drashna)]

To make sure, it sounds like that StableBit DrivePool is only listing itself on the dropdown menu for the remote computers? If so, this is because it's not seeing the other system. We rely on multicasting to get a list of other computers on the network with the product installed and that doesn't always work.

 

In this case, you can create a "RemoteControl.xml" file (there is a sample one in the folder) and create a manual list of peers:

http://wiki.covecube.com/StableBit_DrivePool_2.x_Advanced_Settings#RemoteControl.xml

 

Once you've done this, restart the "StableBit DrivePool Service" (using services.msc). It should now list the peers you've manually specified.

[Benoire]

Cool thanks Drashna.  Do I need to do this on both installations for it to work?  Is the format also <peer>IP/hostname</Peer>?

 

Thanks,

 

Chris

[Christopher (Drashna)]

You only need to do it on the systems that are not seeing the other systems.

 

So if only one is having the issue, then you only need to do it on that system. But if both are having the issue, then yes, you need to do it on both.

 

And yes, the format is <peer>IP/Hostname</peer>.

And you can add as many peers as you need.

[Benoire]

Perfect, the ip addresses worked.  I had been using the hostname but it appears that if connected to a domain it needs the full domain name as well... I was simply trying the host name as that works for Remote Desktop Connection.

 

If I buy a license (I'm trialing this to replace unRAID as I'm unsatisfied with it) do I only need one license for each (scanner and drivepool) and then that will allow me to install and connect as a client from another machine as it appears that I need to activate the second copy of my dc with essentials to do this?  How do clients connecting to the licensed installation work?

[Christopher (Drashna)]

IP address is usually the best method, as long as the machine has a static IP (or is reserved). 

And you can definitely use the FQDN for the machine there as well.

 

As for the license, you only need licenses for the systems that you're going to actively use the software on. If you have a "workstation" that you use, and you don't want StableBit Scanner or StableBit DrivePool to be in use, you can just install them, and leave them unlicensed. The drop-down box for remotely controlling the other machines is still accessible at this point, and you can control the other machines just fine.

 

Alex actually goes into detail about how the remote control functionality works here:

http://blog.covecube.com/2013/02/stablebit-drivepool-2-0-beta-remote-control/