New User Moving Data between folders

[crowdx42]

Good morning,

 I have been playing with drivepool over the last few days and I am wondering about moving data between folders. If I move data in a drivepool between two different folders will it keep the data on the same drive or will it assign it to where it thinks it should be copied?
My reason is, I have a drive that I want to add to the pool which has several archive folders on it and I want to create a single folder for these archives. If I do this before adding to the drive pool it will only take a few seconds due to the move would be all on the same drive. I am thinking this would take a lot longer if I do it after the drive is added to the pool?
Also, when adding multiple drives to the pool, does drive pool put all the data from folders which are named the same into the same folder in the pool? i.e. if I have 3 drives and a folder called pictures on each drive, when I add it to the pool will they all get combined into the same folder? If they are in the same folder after the drives are added to the pool, will drivepool hide the duplicate files?

 

Thanks for the help

Patrick

[Christopher (Drashna)]

Patrick, 

To be blunt here, I'm not exactly sure what you're asking here. The way you've presented it is kind of confusing. I'm not trying to be mean here, at all. But I wanted to let you know that if I did misunderstand you, this is why.

I'll try to answer as best I can, but if I miss anything just let me know. 

 

 

When moving files around that are already one the pool, but to different locations on the pool:

I believe that DrivePool does keep them on the same disk, as long as it doesn't violate a file placement rule, or other balancer settings.

 

When moving files from a disk to the pool:

No, this will put the files on the disk(s) with the most available free space. This means taht they may be moved to a completely different disk.

 

However, we do have a "seeding" guide, where you move the files into the pool's folder structure. This will keep the files on the same drive, and only take minutes to complete.

http://wiki.covecube.com/StableBit_DrivePool_Q4142489

 

Additionally, when seeding files like this, if you have the same folder on multiple disks, in the same location "beneath" the PoolPart folders, then they will all appear in one folder on the pool. And yes, it will hid the duplicate files.

However, part of resetting the pool settings in the guide is to force DrivePool to check the files. This will help ensure that "duplicate" files really are identical.

 

I think I've covered most of what you were trying to get at. If not, or if you need clarification, don't hesitate to ask. 

[crowdx42]

Thanks for the response to my not too clear questions

 

One last question which I will try to clarify more. In my setup I do not have drive pool doing any backups and so it is not duplicating any files automatically, the data in the pool from multiple drives does have 3 folders across three drives all called pictures, how does drive pool handle those in the pool? If I enable duplication in drive pool, will drivepool create another set of duplicate files?

 

Is there a good way to delete the duplicate files from the pool and only leave a single set of pictures? My issue with the original master folders is that they are all called the same name but the contents does vary between the folders, i.e. some were updated more often than others and so sub folders and contents differ depending on which drive the original folder was on although the individual pictures may have duplicates across the original drives.

 

Any ideas?
Patrick
 

[Christopher (Drashna)]

You are very welcome. 

 

 

As for the "Picture" folder, if these are in the same location in the pool folder structure (eg x:\PoolPart.xxxx\Pictures), then it will combine the contents of the folders into one, on the Pool. The contents of all three folders will show up in the one folder on the pool.

 

\PoolPart.abcd\Pictures\file1.jpg

\PoolPart.abcd\Pictures\file2.jpg

\PoolPart.abcd\Pictures\fileA.jpg

\PoolPart.abcd\Pictures\fileB.jpg

 

\PoolPart.wxyz\Pictures\file2.jpg

\PoolPart.wxyz\Pictures\file3.jpg

\PoolPart.wxyz\Pictures\fileA.jpg

\PoolPart.wxyz\Pictures\fileC.jpg

 

\PoolPart.1234\Pictures\file3.jpg

\PoolPart.1234\Pictures\file4.jpg

\PoolPart.1234\Pictures\fileA.jpg

\PoolPart.1234\Pictures\fileB.jpg

 

 

Then, they'd show up as:

\Pictures\file1.jpg

\Pictures\file2.jpg

\Pictures\file3.jpg

\Pictures\file4.jpg

\Pictures\fileA.jpg

\Pictures\fileB.jpg

\Pictures\fileC.jpg

 

 

if the actual contents are different, you'll see a "file part mismatch" error.

 

As for deleting duplicates, if they're in the exact same folder layout, then when DrivePool runs a duplication pass, it will automatically delete extra copies. 

However, if the files are not located in the same place, they will all show up, and separately. And you'd need to run a utility to compare the files (or do it by hand).

[crowdx42]

Perfect, exactly what I needed to know.

Thank you for all your help

Patrick

[Christopher (Drashna)]

You are very welcome.

 

If you have any other questions, don't hesitate to ask.