WHS noob here..

I've added an external esata box and added a drive to the pool. The server works as expected and the additional capacity is being used however I expected the drive pool to balance itself across all the drives which hasn't happened.

I'm concerned as the other drives are almost at full capacity (98%) including the system disk.

Is there a trick I'm missing??

PS, I added the extra drive four months ago so it's had plenty of time to balance itself if it was ever going to

EDIT: Screen grab of my drives: http://www.users.on.net/~elbowroom/pics/balance.png

WHS doesn't balance data that way. Any new data added to the server will be placed onto the disk with the most free space, which is what appears to be happening from your screenshot.

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Alex Kuretz
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Wow, You must be doing a lot of movies and/or a lot of Bluray to use that much space.

Just my 2 cents:
Deciding how to manage data on the server and living with those choices when a drive or two fails is something that is better done before the problems start instead of regretting it later.

1) I would turn off duplication before adding a external drive to the pool. I would not trust it.
2) Does duplication need to be on, on all the shares? Maybe some of the data is backed up somewhere else or you have hard copies.
3) How much space is being takin up by client PC backups? Maybe don't save as much or as long.

I know it shouldn't make a difference internal or external drives, you should just be able to keep adding them but we know the potental for problems grows when you start going external and if you have that much data now, how fast is it growing and how much will you be able to expand.
Just some thoughts.
I figure once I fill all 4 slots and maybe an external non pooled it will be time to DIY a bigger one.
Goodluck It sounds like yours is working as it should up to this point.

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LOL - I can fit all my movies on one external 2TB USB

I run a small photography business (two shooters) and we use the HP as an archive server for our images. Duplication is on for most of the folders for protection against drive failure. *Most* of our files are backed up on external drives however I have to look closely at my D.A.M. (Digital Asset Management) setup as I don't feel that comfortable with it the way it is now.

I popped back on this site to search for why periodically I loose connection with the server and have to do a hard restart to get it back (I tyry to avoid this at all costs..)

Off to trawl threads now for an answer to the disappearing HP!!

I'd install the Home Server SMART Add-In and check your drive health, I bet you've got a system drive with bad clusters.

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Alex Kuretz
Remote Notification: Monitoring and alerting for your Home Server via email, Twitter, text message, RSS, push notifications, and on your Mac desktop
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Yup, unfortuantly that looks like the correct diagnosis

Any tips on how to clone the data and replace the drive when the only comps I have access to are Macs?

All the tutorials are all reliant on having a PC

All the essential data is stored using folder duplication and Most of the data is backed up.

You need a PC to perform a Server Recovery, see if you can borrow a laptop from a friend or family member.

_________________
Alex Kuretz
Remote Notification: Monitoring and alerting for your Home Server via email, Twitter, text message, RSS, push notifications, and on your Mac desktop
Have you tried our Add-Ins? If so, be sure to Rate them at WeGotServed.