74 replies to this topic

[alexpi]

Announcing...

StableBit DrivePool for the Windows Home Server 2011

This add-in will let you add multiple hard drives into one combined storage pool on the Windows Home Server. You can create folder shares on this storage pool, and each folder on the pool can either be duplicated or not duplicated. Files placed in duplicated folders will be protected against single drive failure by being placed onto two separate hard drives.

Features:

• Combine all your hard drives into one big storage pool (except the system drive with the OS).
  
• Add and remove drives from the pool at any time without re-partitioning or manually moving folders.
  
• Create duplicated folders on the storage drive pool that are protected against single drive failure. If a drive fails on which a duplicated file was stored, the contents of that file will remain readable even without the drive.

Screenshots:

The new folder view:



Add a folder:












Added a folder:



Folder seen from another computer, just like any other UNC share:



The drive pool:




The features list and screenshots are based on the current working ALPHA, so you can understand that there are some things still missing and subject to change.

This is the first announcement that we're making, there will be a more formal announcement and a fully functional Technical Preview version available in the coming weeks.

For any questions, you can contact us @ http://stablebit.com/Contact

Also, check out the StableBit Scanner (http://stablebit.com/Scanner) for Windows Home Server v1 while you're there. It is truly awesome.

Alex

StableBit.com

[gapazz]

This looks great, can't wait to try it. Best drive extender alternitive I'v seen yet.

[Garry]

Interesting! Glad to see the gap filled for those in need! Will be watching this one closely.

So of course these questions arrise and will hopefully be answered in time.

1. How safe is your data?

2. Is this software Raid?

3. Can you mix drive sizes/types?

4. How much system resources (cpu/memory) will this require?

5. System requirements?

6. Will this play nice with streaming videos?

7. How much does this cost?

8. Will there be a beta before release?

9. When will the product be available?

[kaphonius]

I’m glad to see the market moving to fill this obvious need. Price point is a big concern for any of those 3rd party developers seeking to fill the DE chasm in WHS 2011. If the solution costs as much as the OS itself there’s gonna be a lot of consumer second thoughts. And you can bet MS isn’t going to cut Vail’s retail price to compensate for its shortcomings. It will be interesting to see how options develop and how this race turns out through the year.

[sanse]

see? ;-)

[NNate]

I'll echo Garry's questions.

With all the pain I've had with the hourly DE balancing on WHSv1, I want to be sure this won't cause the same problems in streaming HD video.

[BIGGRIMTIM]

I hope this fills the gap that Microsoft left when it removed DE from WHS.

[sanse]

just tried the stable bit scanner for whs v1, but it won't connect to it's own service. a restart didn't help.

[Garry]

sanse, on 11 February 2011 - 05:23 PM, said:

just tried the stable bit scanner for whs v1, but it won't connect to it's own service. a restart didn't help.

***************
Hopefully a learning curve or configuration problem but
it would be a good test to see what their support level
is like.

[solarnet]

Looks good, I'll be keeping and eye on this also. I do have a question besides the ones listed above, Can more than one pool be used. I would REALLY like to see the ability to create multiple Pools. Also will it work with SBS too?

Richard

[Ian]

This does look good.

[alexpi]

Interesting! Glad to see the gap filled for those in need! Will be watching this one closely.

So of course these questions arrise and will hopefully be answered in time.

1. How safe is your data?
Data placed in a duplicated share is protected against any single drive failure. That means that if any one hard disk dies then it's guaranteed that all the files in all your duplicated shares will remain readable.

2. Is this software Raid?
No. Files in duplicated shares simply exist on 2 drives. In terms of performance, yes, this is like software RAID in the sense that it's not hardware accelerated.

3. Can you mix drive sizes/types?
Yes. Any non-removable disk formatted with NTFS. I.e. it won't add your SD card to the pool.

4. How much system resources (cpu/memory) will this require?
This remains to be seen, it's still early days.

5. System requirements?
Beyond WHS 2011, I don't foresee any special requirements at this point.

6. Will this play nice with streaming videos?
The performance characteristics will become evident once the technical beta ships. I've been coding day and night since the RC got released, I didn't get a chance to push it to the limit to see how it performs.

7. How much does this cost?
No price announced, but I can give you a ballpark figure of $20.

8. Will there be a beta before release?
Yes.

9. When will the product be available?
There will be a functional Technical Preview in the coming weeks. Beyond that, all I can tell you is that we'll be going for a beta and a release as quickly as possible, while delivering a stable release.

[alexpi]

NNate, on 11 February 2011 - 04:42 PM, said:

I'll echo Garry's questions.

With all the pain I've had with the hourly DE balancing on WHSv1, I want to be sure this won't cause the same problems in streaming HD video.

No promises on streaming HD videos, but I can tell you that there is no automatic balancing as of the current dev alpha.

[Garry]

alexpi

On behalf of the WGS community I want to say your quick responses
are greatly appriciated. We will be looking forward to more announcements
in the future.

Thank you!

[alexpi]

sanse, on 11 February 2011 - 05:23 PM, said:

just tried the stable bit scanner for whs v1, but it won't connect to it's own service. a restart didn't help.

I've just verified that the current BETA of the Scanner installs / validates. It is a beta, so there might be some kind of hardware incompatibility when the service tries to start up.

If you wish, you can open a support case @ stablebit.com/contact.

[NNate]

Thanks for the response, alexpi. I'll be watching this closely.

[alexpi]

I'm definitely not shy about answering questions or taking feedback, I want to release a product that people will like.

[killdashnine]

Questions:

1. Are you or have you been working with Microsoft regarding this tool? I have basic concerns over a third party product responsible for such an important component that may be at the mercy of Microsoft updates further down the line.

2. How does this tool react to a system rebuild in the event of a major hardware failure?

3. If this does in fact resolve the major complaint that most of us have regarding Vail, how much will you hold out for before MS buys you/your addon?


It's intriguing and I will not rehash everyones cautious optimism, but as someone else pointed out.... Why didn't/couldn't Microsoft do what you have? I was all set to stick with WHS v1 and maybe migrate to Amahi whenever the need presented itself, but you have peaked my interest in Vail. The concept seems basic enough, but with Microsoft's WHS v1 implementation, I figured there was no easy solution....

All eyes are on you.

[daveyboy37]

Flexraid,Unraid and now this....Things are looking up.

[daveyboy37]

Garry, on 11 February 2011 - 04:14 PM, said:

Interesting! Glad to see the gap filled for those in need! Will be watching this one closely.

So of course these questions arrise and will hopefully be answered in time.

1. How safe is your data?

2. Is this software Raid?

3. Can you mix drive sizes/types?

4. How much system resources (cpu/memory) will this require?

5. System requirements?

6. Will this play nice with streaming videos?

7. How much does this cost?

8. Will there be a beta before release?

9. When will the product be available?

Most of these are already answered. Read the blog on the Stablebit site.

Also to all the people who wont test it out until it is proved that it is safe and reliable on running systems, be grateful that are others who will be their guinea pigs.Or else you would never know because the product would be crashed before take off. Either that go back to your "WHS1 and Microsoft bashing.