answered Questions about locations and how Central uses them.

[Norvel Reeves]

First, some background.  I've purchased several of the XP11 True Earth regions, which use non-trivial amounts of disk space.  I've already moved my only Orbx Library and installed TE Northern California SD for XP11 into that Library with only few issues that I was able to work through for a successful install.  Now, before moving forward with, at present, three other TE regions, I'd like to get some clarification about how Orbx Central uses and locates content.  Please note that I haven't yet tried to do more installs; so I am not asking for responses on specific problems.  So, here's my questions:

 

1. How temporary is the temporary location?  Can files be deleted from it to save space?  As far as I can tell, Orbx documentation is silent on this.  The term, 'Temporary', suggests that the files in the temp location can, in fact, be deleted.
    
2. After changing backup location, do existing backup files have to be moved to the new location?  Orbx documentation just says future backups will be to the new location; it's silent, as far as I can tell, about previous backups.
    
3. My existing backup location was, 'C:\Users\norve\AppData\Roaming\Orbx\Central\Backup', before I changed it to, 'T:\Orbx\Central\Backup'.  I created the new backup location as a sub-directory, even though the Orbx manual does not say that this is required (as it does for libraries).  What, if any considerations apply to the naming conventions and directory structure of the backup location?  The Orbx documentation is, as far as I can tell, silent on these issues.  One option I'm considering is using an external USB HDD for Orbx backups, which could allow me to save space on internal drives.
    
4. The Orbx documentation is also, it seems, silent on what considerations apply when using more than one Orbx Library location; i.e., why would one do it at all; what, if any restrictions exist, such as mixing disk device types (i.e., SSD, HDD, NAS, removable USB, etc.).  Are the 'Concurrency' and 'Conversion' settings affected by these choices?
    
5. A more general consideration is whether or not or to what extent the libraries, backups and download temporary locations have to be on the same disk type; i.e., SSD, HDD, NAS, removable USB sticks and HDDs, etc.  Are the 'Concurrency' and 'Conversion' settings affected by these choices?

 

Thanks, for any help you all can provide.

 

Norvel

[Nick Cooper]

Hello Norvel,

1. the temporary files are automatically deleted upon completion of the installation.

2. if you change the backup location, Orbx Central can no longer see the backups,

so the existing backups should be moved to the new location.

3. a location must be created before assigning it as a backup.

An external disk is a valid option.

4. as the choice of whether to have more than one library lies with the customer, it is for the

customer to decide if there is a benefit in having more than one.

Personally, I have three, one for each simulator. It is not necessary though, one library can

accommodate files from all simulators that use libraries.

5. as with all hardware related issues,  the lowest common denominator must be considered,

otherwise known as a bottleneck. You should therefore choose the option that suits your slowest disk.

[Norvel Reeves]

Thanks for your prompt and helpful response.  I apologize for not responding as quickly and will try and do better.  My response here is rather long.  I hope it helps clarify why I am asking the questions and what information I need.

 

I am contemplating the following arrangement:

1. Use as an Orbx Central Library a ~222 GB partition on a 256 GB internal SSD.  At present, this partition has only an Orbx Central Library containing 3 XP11 Orbx products; most significantly TE US Northern California SD (TENC), and so the partition has ~160 GB free.
    
2. Use the same Orbx Central Library for TE US Southern California SD (TESC), TE US Oregon SD  (TEO) and TE US Washington SD (TEW).  I have purchased, but not as yet downloaded or installed any of these three products.
   
   Details in Orbx Central for TESC shows download size 50.7 GB and install size 47.7 GB.
   
   Details in Orbx Central for TEO shows unfortunately download size N/A and install size N/A.  The text under About  in Orbx Central for TEO  shows 65 GB under  minimum and recommended specs.
   
   Details in Orbx Central for TEW shows download size 43.6 GB and unfortunately install size N/A.  The text under About in Orbx Central for TEW shows 65 GB under minimum and recommended specs.
   
   It's not clear to me how the above numbers should be added together to determine the free space needed to install these three products.  If I need more Orbx Library  space, in the short term (i.e., more than ~160 GB for TESC, TEO and TEW),  I have more internal SSD space available (see below) to, in the short term, handle relatively small (i.e., 40-50 GB) overruns, if the install sizes add up to more than 160 GB.  I assume that I can, if necessary, define new Orbx Library Locations for this purpose.
    
3. Use as an Orbx Central Temporary Location the ~180 GB available on the same SSD partition as my  Windows 10 OS.  I intend to keep this  available space at ~180 GB, specifically for temporary files.  Short term, I could use some of this available space for overruns when installing.
    
4. Use as the Orbx Central Backups Location, external HDDs.  In the longer term,  I assume it is possible for me to manage Orbx Central Backups by changing the Backups location to accommodate the need to store large backups on different (i.e., external) drives.
   
   Note that when I installed TENC, I used as an Orbx Central Backups Location, a separate, ~220 GB partition, on the same physical SSD as my Windows 10 OS.  This partition can, if necessary, be extended by ~90 GB (at  the expense of disk performance, which I would like to avoid, long term).  I used this SSD partition to avoid any problems from mixing physical disk types while specifying Concurrency as Solid State Drive.  At present, this partition has TENC, the TE Great Britain Demo and the Courchevel Airport backed up and ~175 GB available.  As I'm saying here, I would much rather use larger (i.e., 3 TB) external HDDs for this purpose, after appropriately changing the Orbx Backups Location, in which case the ~220 GB partition would be freed up for other purposes (i.e., an Orbx Library Location).

The above potential setup is why I asked the questions in my original post.  While your helpful response takes care of many of my questions, setting aside issues of performance bottlenecks, I am most interested in being as sure as possible that the choices I might make will not contribute to failed downloads, installs or re-installs.

I'm still not clear how the Concurrency and Conversion variables apply.  I have seen several support posts where the poster who is having problems is told by support to, for example, "Ensure that the Concurrency setting is aligned to your type of disk drive, i.e. SSD or HDD", or; "Under Concurrency check that you have SSD chosen", or the poster is told to change Conversion to moderate or low.  I am trying to  understand if they should be set to certain values to begin with to avoid problems (other than performance) and I have been unable to figure it out from the Orbx documentation.

 

I am also interested in determining as precisely as possible for each product (TESC, TEO, TEW), how much temporary, backups and installed disk space is required.  I would much rather know this in advance than by using a trial and error technique which, in my case, is most likely to be error.

 

I hope the above details make it more, not less, clear why I am still interested in finding out more about issues related to different Orbx related locations and disk types.    In a sense I have been talking to myself about what I need to do!

 

I also hope that replying to your post is the correct way to correspond about this.  If it isn't, please don't hesitate to let me know.

 

Thanks, again, for your help,

 

Norvel

[Nick Cooper]

Hello,

1. the partition is probably too small for what you intend to do.

2. you can have several Orbx Central Libraries in different locations.

3. 180 GB should be enough space for the temporary files for the SD products.

4. If disk space is at a premium, then the better choice might be not to make backups.

 

The concurrency is not really relevant to you, as the SD versions of these products do not use

a conversion process, as the HD versions do.

[Norvel Reeves]

Thanks again for a prompt response.

1. I understand that the partition size (~222 GB with ~160 GB free) is pushing the limit for 4 TE Regions.  This is one reason why I am reaching out for more information.
   
   The question is, and I apologize for not stating this directly in my previous posts, can you tell me the install sizes (that is, the amount of storage used in the Orbx Central Library) of TE US Oregon SD and TE US Washington?   With this information, I could decide for myself if the size of the partition, which I am dedicating to my, so far only,  Orbx Central Library Location, is sufficient.  Without the information, I have to guess, which is not my preferred method.
    
2. About backups, I'm not thrilled with the idea of not keeping backups.  Unless I am mistaken, this would require the non-trivial downloads of the TE products to re-install, verify files, etc.  I don't consider disk space to be at a premium since I have a bunch of 3 TB HDDs available.  I also understand that using an external HDD for backups would slow down the initial download and install process, but I'm willing to accept that.  My chief concern was that I would not be able to use those external HDDs for backups due to a requirement that all Orbx Central Locations be on the same types of internal disk drives.  It seems to me that this isn't the case, at least not unless I upgrade to TE HD regions, which I don't plan on doing in the short run.
   
   I have no problem with taking on the task of managing the space used for Orbx Central backups and appropriately changing the value that Orbx Central uses when I do a re-install or verify files.  What has to work, and I assume it does, is changing the Orbx Central backups location in Orbx Central to point to the appropriate external drive when a particular product is being re-installed or is the subject of a verify files, etc.  I would have to keep track of which disk(s) have backups for which product(s), and, again, that is something I am willing to do and feel confident about doing.
   
   Can you, then, confirm that the Orbx Central Backups location can be housed on external (i.e., USB connected) HDDs, even if other Orbx Central locations (i.e., Library, Temporary) are housed on different kinds of external or internal storage devices?

Thanks, again, for your help,

 

Norvel

[Nick Cooper]

Hello Norvel,

I see this on the Washington SD product page.

 

Quote

Please note, this is the standard definition version of TrueEarth US Washington which uses 2.4m/pixel (ZL16) sharpened orthoimagery and uses a much smaller 58GB of disk space versus the 215GB of the HD version.

 

and this on the Oregon SD product page.

 

Quote

Please note, this is the standard definition version of TrueEarth US Oregon which uses 2.4m/pixel (ZL16) sharpened orthoimagery and takes 63GB disk space. 

 

As far as I am aware, there is no problem in assigning an external disk as the backup location, provided that the disk is connected when Orbx Central is open.

[Norvel Reeves]

For disk space use, since 65 GB, in the minimum/maximum specs, is the highest, presumably safest, number for these products, I'll just assume 65 GB for each location (temporary, library, and backups) for both TE US Oregon SD and TE US Washington SD, which I'll install one at a time.

 

For backups, I'll go ahead and use external drives, and accept any performance impact.

 

Thank you, again, for your help.

 

Norvel