5 replies to this topic

[diehard]

Looks like StableBit's DrivePool addin, which is the WHS Drive Extender for WHS2011, SBS-E2011, WSS2008 R2 is close to becoming final.

They have updated their web page and the addin is available for a 30 free trail or purchase of $19.95, that more than 1/2 the price for Drive Benders similar product.

I have been leaning towards DrivePool. I find the developer included the WHS communities input more that DB. Also the product seems cleaner and easier to use.

John.

[awraynor]

I bought the discount license for Drive Bender, but never used it due to the less than stellar reviews. Waiting to see how Drive Pool turns out.

[ikon]

Sadly, it looks like it's going to turn out that these add-ons really get going and stable just as Win8 arrives. I feel for the devs.

[msawyer91]

Looks like StableBit's DrivePool addin, which is the WHS Drive Extender for WHS2011, SBS-E2011, WSS2008 R2 is close to becoming final.

They have updated their web page and the addin is available for a 30 free trail or purchase of $19.95, that more than 1/2 the price for Drive Benders similar product.

I have been leaning towards DrivePool. I find the developer included the WHS communities input more that DB. Also the product seems cleaner and easier to use.

John.

I've been quite happy with Drive Bender. Overall it's been pretty solid. A few hiccups here and there, but the developer was awesome in working with me. We exchanged dozens of emails back and forth and I think they worked hard to incorporate changes based on my feedback and concerns.

I threw a pretty complex setup at them...4 x internal SATA drives and a hodgepodge of USB 2.0 external drives, for a total aggregate pool size of 13.5 TB. Then I used BitLocker and encrypted all of these drives. This adds to the complexity because the drives need to be unlocked before the pool service can mount them. Well, the "auto unlock" of BitLocker doesn't unlock USB volumes (volumes it considers to be "roaming" vs. "fixed"), so the pool failed to start until the user (Administrator) who set up auto-unlock for the USB volumes actually logged in, which would unlock them.

I wound up writing a Windows Service to unlock the USB volumes at boot time, and then start the Drive Bender service. StableBit DrivePool fell prey to the same problem. This is not the fault of either developer, but rather a shortcoming of BitLocker itself, although Microsoft says this behavior with USB volumes is by design.

Anyhow, I'm happy with DB but I was also happy with StableBit when I tested it. My gut feeling is that people will gravitate to one or the other, but in the end I think both are solid products.

Matt

[awraynor]

Received a half-off coupon for Drive Pool. If you have purchased any product, in my case StableBit Scanner, on the purchase page it will
also show the option to qualify for the one time discount. $9.98 isn't a bad price for such a product.

[daveyboy37]

Sadly, it looks like it's going to turn out that these add-ons really get going and stable just as Win8 arrives. I feel for the devs.

I do see what youre saying... Tho to be honest, for me Drivepool has turned WHS2011 from a lame duck into a shining light in the history of Microsoft O/S's.... If Alex at Stablebit decides to port Drivepool over to W7 , then W8 will have to be pretty special to make me switch.