I have long been distrusting of Storage Spaces on Windows client PCs, but I may be coming around. I did some testing and so far, so good, but I do have a few questions for any who may have actually used it.
First, let me make a few observations...
In the past, if I recall correctly, storage spaces used to want 7 drives minimum (!) to create a parity set. Now, it will allow creation of a parity set with only 3 drives and dual parity with 5 disks.
There seems to be some disconnect between the legacy Storage Spaces app in Control Panel and the new controls in Settings >System > Storage > Storage Spaces. For example, only the app in Settings allows you to create dual parity.
I was testing on a VM with a pile of VHDs and create a dual parity set. I then purposely killed two VHDs to see what would happen. The legacy app showed the two failed drives. The settings app indicated that there was a problem but listed each individual drive as if there was no issue with any of them. If I would click on one of the failed drives, the settings app would close ("gracefully" crash).
I do like the fact that the settings app gives you some more drive detail such as physical drive info.
What I found to be a little awkward was that some operations I could only do in the settings app, while others required the legacy Storage Spaces app. It seemed a little odd bouncing around between them.
So, here are my questions:
1) The crash I see in the settings app and lack of info on failed disks - does anyone know if that is simply because these are VHDs? Anyone have experience with this?
2) Are any of you brave souls running this in real life? If so, any issues that you are aware of, or does it seem reliable?
For the first time ever I'm actually considering using this, but as a backup only for now. I'll be using 8TB drives and I want to get a feel for how long a rebuild is, etc.
Any thoughts from people who have actually used this?
First, let me make a few observations...
In the past, if I recall correctly, storage spaces used to want 7 drives minimum (!) to create a parity set. Now, it will allow creation of a parity set with only 3 drives and dual parity with 5 disks.
There seems to be some disconnect between the legacy Storage Spaces app in Control Panel and the new controls in Settings >System > Storage > Storage Spaces. For example, only the app in Settings allows you to create dual parity.
I was testing on a VM with a pile of VHDs and create a dual parity set. I then purposely killed two VHDs to see what would happen. The legacy app showed the two failed drives. The settings app indicated that there was a problem but listed each individual drive as if there was no issue with any of them. If I would click on one of the failed drives, the settings app would close ("gracefully" crash).
I do like the fact that the settings app gives you some more drive detail such as physical drive info.
What I found to be a little awkward was that some operations I could only do in the settings app, while others required the legacy Storage Spaces app. It seemed a little odd bouncing around between them.
So, here are my questions:
1) The crash I see in the settings app and lack of info on failed disks - does anyone know if that is simply because these are VHDs? Anyone have experience with this?
2) Are any of you brave souls running this in real life? If so, any issues that you are aware of, or does it seem reliable?
For the first time ever I'm actually considering using this, but as a backup only for now. I'll be using 8TB drives and I want to get a feel for how long a rebuild is, etc.
Any thoughts from people who have actually used this?
My Computers
System One System Two
-
- OS
- Win11 Pro 24H2
- Computer type
- PC/Desktop
- Manufacturer/Model
- Self-built
- CPU
- Intel i7 11700K
- Motherboard
- ASUS Prime Z590-A MB
- Memory
- 64GB (Waiting for warranty replacement of another 64GB for 128GB total)
- Graphics Card(s)
- No GPU - Built-in Intel Graphics
- Sound Card
- Integrated
- Monitor(s) Displays
- HP Envy 32
- Screen Resolution
- 2560 x 1440
- Hard Drives
- 1 x 1TB NVMe SSD
1 x 2TB NVMe SSD
1 x 4TB NVMe SSD
3 x 512GB 2.5" SSD
1 x 4TB 2.5" SSD
5 x 8TB Seagate Barracuda HDD
- PSU
- Corsair HX850i
- Case
- Corsair iCUE RGB 5000X mid tower case
- Cooling
- Noctua NF-S12A chromax.black.swap case fans (Qty. 7) & Home Computer Specifications, Configuration, and Usage Notes General Specifications ASUS Prime Z590-A motherboard, serial number M1M0KC222467ARP Intel Core i7-11700K CPU (11th Gen Rocket Lake / LGA 1200 Socket) 128GB Crucial Ballistix RGB DDR4 3200 MHz DRAM (4 x 32GB) Corsair iCUE RGB 5000X mid tower case Noctua NH-D15 chromax.black CPU cooler Noctua NF-S12A chromax.black.swap case fans (Qty. 7) & Corsair LL-120 RGB Fans (Qty. 3)
- Keyboard
- Corsair K70 Max RGB Magnetic Keyboard
- Mouse
- Logitech MX Master 3
- Internet Speed
- 1Gb Up / 1 Gb Down
- Browser
- Edge
- Antivirus
- Windows Defender
- Other Info
- The five 8TB drives and three 512GB SSDs are part of a DrivePool using StableBit DrivePool software. The three SSDs are devoted purely to caching for the 8TB drives. All of the important data is stored in triplicate so that I can withstand simultaneous failure of 2 disks.
Networking: 2.5Gbps Ethernet and WiFi 6e
-
- Operating System
- Win11 Pro 23H2
- Computer type
- Laptop
- Manufacturer/Model
- Lenovo ThinkBook 13x Gen 2
- CPU
- Intel i7-1255U
- Memory
- 16 GB
- Graphics card(s)
- Intel Iris Xe Graphics
- Sound Card
- Realtek® ALC3306-CG codec
- Monitor(s) Displays
- 13.3-inch IPS Display
- Screen Resolution
- WQXGA (2560 x 1600)
- Hard Drives
- 2 TB 4 x 4 NVMe SSD
- PSU
- USB-C / Thunderbolt 4 Power / Charging
- Mouse
- Buttonless Glass Precision Touchpad
- Keyboard
- Backlit, spill resistant keyboard
- Internet Speed
- 1Gb Up / 1Gb Down
- Browser
- Edge
- Antivirus
- Windows Defender
- Other Info
- WiFi 6e / Bluetooth 5.1 / Facial Recognition / Fingerprint Sensor / ToF (Time of Flight) Human Presence Sensor
