Q) Moving across different 2TB partitions - and new drive letters = works

Forum History Drobo
1

Hi, i was wondering about when i get more 2tb drive letters…

Ive got 1.81TB actual capacity as shown in the dashboard, which is made up of 3x1tb drives.

= 1 drive letter on the computer.

If i add a 4th similar drive, eg to take me over the 2tb capacity (will probably rise to 2.7tb)… will it automatically make a new letter, and will my existing data still be on the original (already existing) letter?

eg i installed demos to drobo letter:\program files etc to save space on c.

Also, if i get a 2nd letter, can i move folders from the original 1st letter (partition) into the 2nd new letter quickly? - or will it treat it like a “copy” action, and take as long to move as it would have taken to copy to?

(eg am thinking of rearranging things in future, to have 1 drive letter as the main (installables stuff) and the other as the man (data stuff).

thanks if you can help :slight_smile:

2

it will automatically create a second volume (which hopefully your OS will assign a drive letter to)

they are treated as totally separate drives as far as windows is concerned,

the only thing they share is that your ACTUAL free space (as drobo dashboard tells you) is shared between the two drives as it is needed.

i.e you have two 2Tb partitions, each with 1TB of data on them

if your drobo’s actual space is 2.5TB (since you have 2 tb of data on it) you will have 500GB FREE space on your drobo.

windows will see your two 2 tb partitions, each with 1TB of data, so to windows it will look like you have 1TB free on both drives,

but actually you can only put 500GB in total onto either partition (because then your drobo will be full) so you could put 500GB more on one, or the other, or 400Gb on one and 100Gb on the other.if you see what i mean

3

thanks DocChris for speedy replies and for the info :slight_smile:
i might have missed it but what about the part on moving from 1 letter to the other? will it be just like a cut and paste on the same letter, or will it take lots of time just like copying it from 1 drive to another?[hr]
(example, if i make a folder called “1” on my existing drobo letter, containing a 1 GB file

and if i make another folder called “2” on my existing drobo letter, (empty)

if i cut “1” and paste “1” into “2”, it is a normal speedy 1 second move action,

but if i cut “1” and paste it onto the new drive letter…do you know if it will take the longer action like a 30seconds action etc (if you know what i mean)

4

A cut and paste or move between Drobo volumes will do it the hard way, as it has to. It will copy the files then delete the old ones from the source volume.

5

ahh ok thanks, is handy to know :slight_smile:

6

hi again guys, im almost ready to bite the bullet and add more space. (will probably wait a bit until i can source another drive onsite to be handy beforehand)

right now, my v1 has drive letter b: and my v2 drobo has drive letter o:
do you know what determines the letter of the new v1 partition after i add more space?
eg main concern is that it forces b: to something else, and o: to something else etc?

thanks,
paul

7

It should use the next available drive letter, but you can always reassign letters from Dashboard (via rename volumes).

8

and i think the actual basic assigning is done by your OS and not by dashboard - so it would be just the same as if you had plugged in any other disk/volume

9

ahh ok, thanks guys :slight_smile:
btw docchhris, initially you helped me get the eads wd drives form overclockers but i thin they’ve sold out :frowning:
do you happen to know of another source you could (no strings attached) recommend?

10

just use the latest firmware and use EARS instead - basically the same but different formatting of the sectors

11

ahh so that would be ok, the 3 existing eads’s and 1 ears for example?
am ok drobo f/w v.1.3.5
and dashboard v.1.5.1

12

first question - yes, as long as the drives are supported, then mixing and matching doenst matter

second question - no - you need at least 1.3.6 - see this:

http://support.datarobotics.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/351/kw/advanced%20format/r_id/100004

13

thanks Chris,
i think i’ll go hunting for more eads’s for now :slight_smile:

14

They’re still available, just search for the specific model (2.0TB = WD20EADS) and make sure that particular model is listed on the listing. Amazon UK seems to have a number of listings.

15

thanks i had a look, and it was about £150 for the WD20eads :frowning:
but i found one for $68 (1.5tb eads) instead which seems a good price?

16

Mainly it’s to you how much storage you want. :slight_smile: I does seem that Europe has a general shortage of WD20EADS though, interesting.

I got my last batch from eBay (I’m in the US).

17

on ebay uk the wd20eads are about 140, the ears about 70!

18

Hi guys, i just put in a 4th (1tb) drive i had here, and a pop up said it can now create a 2nd volume for me (reboot drobo now) or (remind me later).

(as i was in the middle of something, i said remind me later…
but when i finish the current stuff, is there a way i can force reboot it (just like as though if i clicked on that (reboot now) option?

(my volume sizes are 2tb each volume, just to keep things compatible etc)

19

i would suspect if you just reboot it via dashboard that will do the trick?

20

ahh, that sounded nice and easy, i looked but can only see a reset option (not something i want to do lol) :slight_smile:

i have atm, v1.5.1 dashboard
and v1.3.5 firmware

am i missing the plot :slight_smile: or is that option only in later versions? (its the drobo v2 - i havent put the 4th disk into the the v1 yet, was testing it on the syncback backup first) :slight_smile: