I/O Error on Save

Panorama "Classic"
#1

Hello,

A friend runs Panorama 6, shared on two Mac Mini’s with the latest version of High Sierra on both. The Panorama database lives on a Buffalo LS220DE NAS link station, which contains 2 hard drives, one of which went bad (one of the status lights on the front panel was red and status indicated the link station was running degraded) and had been bad for a time until it was replaced about 2 weeks ago and the RAID was rebuilt.
Now, and not sure if what is being recently seen started to occur before or after the disk replacement, but intermittently when the Panorama database that is used 97% of the time is saved, a File “”, I/O Error. message is issued. The error is not consistent, but intermittent.
The link station indicates both drives are normal and the status lights on the front panel are blue, no longer red since the bad disk was replaced. When the I/O error message is encountered, Alicia saves the database to the desktop and starts over. She also saw a message that stated Disk Error -48.
The Link Station has 3 shared folders, 2 of which are primarily accessed from Windows, though also from 2 the Macs, and the Panorama folder which can be seen and accessed from Windows, though there is no reason anyone should access it from windows. From what I was told, Panorama was placed on the link station so it could be shared/accessed from the 2 Mac Mini’s in the office.
So we’re not sure if the I/O errors are a real disk issue, or something else. One of the other folders on the link station can be saved to from the MACS with no errors. Kind of at a loss as to why this intermittent I/O error is occurring. Are there any issues in having Mac and Windows folders on the same link station that might be contributing to this situation. Would it be better to have Panorama either accessed only by one Mac from a local drive or maybe on a shared server/link station only accessed by the 2 Macs?
Any insights or recommendations would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
Mark

#2

I have no experience with Buffalo NAS, or any NAS. But I can say that we have always advised against putting Panorama databases in shared folders instead of a local folder. The only supported way to allow a database to be accessed on multiple computers is to use Panorama Enterprise Server. If you are not using Panorama Server, the regular version of Panorama is simply not designed to allow a database to be used on more than one computer.

#3

Thanks for the feedback. I will pass this information on.

#4

Another question about the Panorama Enterprise Server. Is this a hardware device that the Panorama Database would live on and then be shared between 2 Macs? Or is this a software server running on one Mac that would allow a second Mac to access the Panorama Database? I’m not clear from what I’ve read about this Enterprise Server whether it is a physical piece of hardware or not. Thx.

#5

Panorama Enterprise Server is software. Most users run it on a Mac mini computer. It is possible to run it on one of the computers that is actually running the client version of Panorama, but there are some extra complications to that.

#6

Since it is software and you state that most users run it on a Mac Mini, but it can be run on a mini that runs Panorama 6 client, is that implying that the ideal way to run it is on a Mini dedicated to running the server software and that has no Panorama 6 client on it? And how much more complicated would it be to run the server software on a mini that also runs the Panorama 6 client software? Thx.

Mark

#7

There are two issues involved.

First of all, you normally want the server software to run all the time, no matter what else is going on on the machine. You have to rely on the person using the computer not to do anything that will cause Panorama Server to quit, or even to click on the software (you can hide the software to make that easier, but it will still appear in the dock). So there is a certain trust level there as to the person operating the computer. If the server is dedicated with no user, that is not a factor.

Assuming you do want a non-dedicated server machine, Panorama Server requires a serial number, and you cannot run two serial numbers on the same computer. So when purchasing, you have to make a special order so that both Panorama and Panorama Server are on the same computer. This is a one time decision, you can’t change your mind later and switch to a dedicated server.

I should point out, of course, that Panorama 6 is rapidly approaching obsolescence. We are working on Panorama X server for release later this year.

#8

Thanks for the explanation.