FlexRAID View - combining multiple drives into a single array

    I really liked the functionality of Windows Home Server for combining several disks into a single array without creating RAIDs, with the ability to remove and add disks at any time, when one of the screws died, the information on the others remained alive and got without problems.
    But, unfortunately, a machine with WHS left me a few months after the purchase, and the role of the home file washer switched to the router where Windows Web Server 2008 is spinning, which, for all its merits, does not know how to drive drives as flexibly as WHS.

    For some time I lived with a composite disk - also a good option, but with two drawbacks - you cannot remove a disk from an array, replacing a disk in an array is hemorrhoids. Well, information recovery in the event of the death of one of the screws is not very convenient.
    RAID5 means Windows - vice versa. Disk replacement is normal, information recovery, as a rule, is not required. But the possibility of expansion disappears.

    Therefore, when I decided to switch to dual-terabytes, at the same time I started looking for a more convenient option. And found - FlexRAID View. I will not talk in detail about what it is, how it works, why RAID, etc. I’ll just write briefly how to do what I wanted:
    image


    But I generally wanted the following:
    1. Combine data disks into one large volume array so that you do not have to manually sort the files - which occurs with several disks (even if you mount them in folders).
    2. Have the ability to add / remove / replace disks at any time without the collapse of the array.
    3. Independence of information on disks from each other - so that the death of one of them does not lead to the inaccessibility of the others. Redundancy is not needed, the safety of the real important is achieved by backups.

    JBOD, in general, is only more convenient.

    Linux Linux, of course, will immediately start saying clever words, something like LVM, unionfs, mhddfs ... Yes, I know such words, I use mhddfs myself. But here I needed a solution for Windows - at home I like living there more than in Linux.

    In search of a solution, I came across a FlexRAID project. By itself, it was conceived as “RAID to protect data” - a contrast to conventional RAIDs that work at the device level. At the moment, it has not yet been brought to mind, in real time it does not work, only the creation of “snapshots” and rollback to them are supported.

    FlexRAID View is offered as additional functionality. According to the description - just what I need (and a little more, but again - I don’t need it anymore).

    Installation
    A sufficiently detailed instruction is available here , but it is somewhat redundant, therefore I will give a brief version.
    1. Download FlexRAID Host and Command Line Client: www.openegg.org/forums/posts/list/308.page (registration required).
    2. First we install the first, then the second ( here in the pictures ). Although you can click Next without pictures.
    3. We start the client and enter the view install command - “FlexRAID Disk Manager” should appear in the list of services
    4. In the folder with the installed FlexRAID Host, create the ViewConfig.txt file. Minimum contents: DRIVE - drive letter UNIQUE - mount points RESTRICT - optional, the rules for managing disk space are written there , in the basic case you do not need RESERVE - reserved space on the partition, the average file size THREAD - the number of threads. The example suggested 5, but at the moment there are likely problems with an amount greater than 1 - the data is corrupted. REMOVABLE - display drive as removable

      DRIVE=K
      UNIQUE=C:\DISKS\2TB1;C:\DISKS\2TB2;C:\DISKS\2TB3
      RESTRICT
      RESERVE=5GB
      THREAD=1
      REMOVABLE=false

      -K:\
      |-*C:\DISKS\2TB1
      |-*C:\DISKS\2TB2
      |-*C:\DISKS\2TB3







    5. Create Autostart.txt in the same folder so that FlexRAID View starts at system startup. The delay time to start in milliseconds is written in the file itself. 2000 or more is recommended - depending on the speed of initialization of the merged disks. For example, if network drives are used, then it is worth putting even more.
    6. In the client, enter the view start command

    Everything should work. As shown in the screenshot above - the system sees this as a regular disk. In reality, a file system is created on one of the disks, files are written there. When it fills up, a hidden _flxr_ folder is created on the next drive , where the files are located when you go to the drive past FlexRAID View.


    Additionally

    • The current version has the status of "beta" - a life span of six months. Then you need to upgrade. RC live a year, the release period is unlimited.
    • There is a web interface and GUI, but they are more focused on managing RAID functions rather than View. Because I didn’t.
    • The service is 32bit, but under 64bit windows it works without problems.
    • There is a FlexRAID version for Linux, but there is no View there (and it is not necessary).

    References

    www.openegg.org - website
    flexraid.wikkii.com/wiki/Main_Page - documentation
    www.openegg.org/forums - forum

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