Any updates from M3, M4?

rubenhak · November 2011

Thanks,

Ruben

drwho · December 2011

I would like to know what is happening also. A number of friends I introduced to DrivePool have since jumped ship and gone with DB. Alex what is happening?

lee1978 · December 2011

Hi

Alex is working on m4 right I believe he has and is making some brilliant improvement as well as adding some if
Not all the surgested adons we all wanted and a interface and a more streamlined code so please be patient

273c · December 2011

Sorry, as Research In Motion found out during the recent Blackberry problems, silence is not 'golden' but worrying if not very concerning!

In order to keep one's followers and potential future users of a product, one needs to communicate with them and re-assure them.

As little as 5 minutes every other day or so just giving a progress report would dispel a lot of those worries. Providing support to people using the current version, even though it is due to be replaced by a version that may fix these issues, is also a required function to placate worried users.

Whilst patience is a virtue, it can last only so long without some feedback.

ajuhawk · December 2011

I have to agree - even updates once a week would be helpful to those of us that really want to stick with DrivePool but are beginning to be concerned about the future of the product. While I know Alex has told us he's working on it, some news would be gratefully received (again, even once a week, a short tweet even...).

More companies should learn that feeding the fire builds a better following then "we're working on it" or "somethings special is in the works" announcements when competitors already have things out there.

snake · December 2011

Alex, do you have any schedule on release of M4? Thanks.

MJbos · December 2011

Hi there... from what I can see the last "update" was M3 in July?

I've been holding off waiting for this ... but at the rate things are going I'll end up waiting for MS to have a solution in the next WHS.

I need to make a move between now and New Year's whilst I have some free time to migrate to a pool. Will M4 be ready in the next week or so? If not, I'm making the move w/DB.

Wishing you success... MJ

lee1978 · December 2011

Hi I have to say guys seems like you want Alex to rush out m4 just for your peace of mind alex still responds to support messages within 24hr or less he has stated many times he is working on m4 that was 1 reason why he extended the 30 trial time good things come to those who wait I am happy with how dp is working I have no problems with it I would be happy if this was the even if this was the finale release

Gramkow · December 2011

I for one am holding out for DrivePool. Tangled a little with Drive Bender, and it seems like a far less polished product - also, DrivePool is targeted at WHS 2011 / SBS 2011, which is where my interest lies.

Running M3 4133 in production right now, and VERY happy with it (and yes, I have backup's outside of the WHS box). More than happy with the product right now, and eagerly awaiting what improvements will be in M4.

Keep up the good work.

/ Gramkow

273c · December 2011

NO - I do not want Alex to rush out M4 or any other version of software. Why would I want to install bad software?

I would like Alex to let his followers know as to his progress and current thoughts on expected release dates given his experiences. (Note: I know from experience that one should not "promise" a particular date for software as one never knows what peculiarity some vendor has put in their code - in this case Microsoft with NTFS and WHS - that then causes you grief at the last minute).

However, silence is not the best option.

Like MJbos above, I have time over the Xmas - New Year break to move over to WHS 2011 "in production" and I would like to have DrivePool there on day one and I would like it to be M4. I need to plan this. If there is no likelihood of M4 being around then, I would like to know sooner rather than later. It may not change my plans to move to WHS 2011 but it will change how I do it.

PS. Personally, I don't use Twitter or similar systems and so I would prefer updates on this site

SilverRubicon · December 2011

M3 is perfectly functional. Don't understand your requirement for M4. Beta is beta and things work rather well right now. An upgrade from M3 to M4 ought to be painless.

MJbos · December 2011

Sorry guys- didn't mean to imply I wanted this rushed - I was looking more for 15 days, 30 days, 60 days...

What I've heard from more than a few folks is...

1. DrivePool M3 is stable enough that folks are using it in production

2. M3 to M4 will be an easy migration

3. DrivePool is viewed as a more polished, complete solution

I usually don't like to jump on to a beta until it's at or close to GM/RC stage - hence my desire to wait for M4.

I think what I'm going to try to do is create a "baby pool" as a starting point.

Thanks for the input & encouragement!

mj

ajuhawk · December 2011

Uh, M3 is NOT "perfectly" functional. There are numerous known issues that are becoming rather bothersome on my install (permissions, specifically, will not stick and are constantly breaking my ability to use the pool on duplicated folders) - so while I am using the M3 beta and enjoy it, these issues and lack of updates on the status of the next update cause me to wonder if I need to see if Drive Bender has improved to the point of being usable. I'd much rather use DrivePool, it's a much better product, imho, but, like everyone has stated, without a general timeline from Alex it's hard to plan (I don't think any of us expect him to state that on Jan 4 @ 3:15PM he will be releasing it, but it would be nice to know that M4 is progressing nicely, currently working on part X, have M, N, O working well, at this rate, I might get it out before Christmas -- or no way it'll be ready before Spring).

So yes, I'm using M3 and I'm happy with it, just this permissions bug is about to make me pull my hair out, so before I do that, it would be nice to know if M4 or any update will come along before long...or if I need to redo things (to save the hair). I think that's all most of us are trying to figure out. No one wants a rushed product and we're all very grateful for what Alex has done to this point to allow us to even have a solution that works this well.

eda · December 2011

I, too, am using M3-4133 as my live server and find that it works very well. I don't see the permissions problem, but then mine really is just a simple home server backing up local PCs and sharing data among family members. I do have an "out of box" backup, since, well M3 is a beta :-). But I would do that anyway. I'm also running mControl V3 for lighting control, PyTivo for video sharing on my TiVos, and Jtunes to run iTunes as a service on my server for AppleTV access. I'm even running CrashPlan for peer backup to my old WHS HP box (duplication off) as well as cloud backup. No issues. Everything seems to be working. So far, I'm quite pleased.

I, too, am looking forward to M4 and check this forum often for any signs of updates. But let's be clear. As near as I can track it, 4133 was announced on October 25th. That was like 6 weeks ago. We all know that M4 is a significant change to the core of how DrivePool works. I'm not a software guy (but I once played one on TV), but I don't think that core changes such as M4 are just another simple beta release. That kind of thing just doesn't happen in 6 weeks. Or probably even 8 or 10 or 12.

Further, once M4 comes out, it will likely need several beta releases before it is stable as well. So no one should be thinking that the first M4 release is Gold Master. No way.

For those of you hoping to do the M4 integration over the Christmas holidays, I recommend planning something else. Spend time with the fam. Go shopping and take advantage of the sales. But don't plan on integrating a Gold Master of DrivePool any time soon.

Ok, all that being said, I agree that it would be nice to hear from Alex now and then. His last Twitter update related to M4 was Nov 22nd. "Haven't posted an update in a while. This could only mean one thing, DrivePool M4 is being worked on intensely. It will be awesome." Another tweet now and then would at least satisfy our need to feel that something is going on.

One more thing. Like so many others, I've tried DriveBender as well. I actually think M3-4133 is a better product than DB's gold release. I like Alex's work. So I'm planning to wait (patiently) for a high-quality M4 release.

hellerbrewing · December 2011

I talked to Alex last night. He was helping me fix my client computer backups issue (awesome customer service BTW). I asked him how M4 was coming and proceeded to show it to me. Be assured, he is working on it and has it running. It looks awesome, it seems much more polished. I would imagine that after 4133 he had to make the decision to stop updating M3 and port it over to the new foundation that will be M4.

I told him that everyone on the boards was getting antsy to hear something from him. He said that he might try to post some screen shots.

Seeing M4 in action and experiencing his customer service first hand has convinced me to keep holding out for M4. I think there are a lot of people that are going to be switching back from drive bender once drivepool is released.

snake · December 2011

Thanks for your feedback and waiting for M4 release in the near future.

BlueFishey · December 2011

great news, well done Alex and team

Blue

ajuhawk · December 2011

Really, really good rundown on the M4 status from Alex: http://blog.covecube.com/2011/12/a-tour-of-stablebit-drivepool-beta-m4/

Thanks Alex!!!

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Any updates from M3, M4?

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