Managing AE storage.

[GreenZombie]

The matter energy storage system in AE is rather odd and it imposes some kind of exponential cost to storing large stacks of items on small memory units.

So, in agrarian skies, I don't have the resources to go all mad and make multiple 64Kb memory modules, so I am existing on a mix of memory modules.

But AE seems quite happy to store large quantities of nether quartz (that I now have over 14k units of) on my 1kb cards, exhausting 62 slots that could be used to store all the misc small item stacks I have.

Even if I format the larger memory modules to hold the items I have more of, small stacks still seem to accumulte in the other memory modules, and those memory modules now cant contribute to 'random' storage. So I now have to constantly reformat them with the most profligate items im trying to store, and then perform a complicated juggle with the IO unit to try and extract those items from other storage onto the card.

And small fragments of the stuff still build up on the smaller cards. Is there an easier way to manage this? Or should I just aim to make all my memory modules 64kb. (There doesn't seem much point to the extra cells higher capacity units, not for a while at least.)

 

[thestarlion]

What you could do, resources and space permitting, is store any bulk resources in a barrel and just use an ME Storage Bus to give the ME network access to those items. Save your cells for the items you have only a few of, or aren't likely to have many of at any one time.

 

[GreenZombie]

That seems rather wasteful. According to this page http://ae1.ae-mod.info/ME-Storage-Math/ the 64Kb cell should be capable of holding 63 stacks of up to 266,240 items. The equivalent storage in JABBA barrels would be an array of 63 barrels, each upgraded to double its storage 5 times.
With numbers like that, learning to work with ME storage seems better.

 

[thestarlion]

If you've added a few extra materials to the JABBA list, they can go beyond that, and if you have MFR just switch to the DSU for greater density. Unless space is a problem, I find it to be a better solution - barrels are much cheaper and easier to make than 64k cells, and the only ME cost is a touch of power and a Storage Bus.
Also, add a Storage Bus on an Extra Utils Filing Cabinet for unstackables - such as armour from mob drops. Those kinds of things really eat up slots in your ME storage, so I'd say that's actually the first thing to do.

 

[GreenZombie]

Perhaps I have a bad attitude about JABBA but the upgrade mechanisim (to get barrrels to the point they can store 200k+ units) seems convoluted and material hungry itself. DSU's are convenient to manafacture by contrast, allthough they don't show their contents.

 

[thestarlion]

Yeah, that's one of the reasons I prefer JABBA's barrels. That and the way you can upgrade them to do various things - BSpace to effectively make them an Ender Barrel, Void Core basically adds a built-in trash can...
The material costs aren't too bad. A good tree farm provides most of it. Four of the appropriate material for each structural upgrade, the rest is wood. The storage upgrades use pistons, but on an Agrarian Skies map once you've got Dust sifting automated you'll have plenty of redstone, and iron isn't exactly hard after a while. I find the biggest pain is crafting them, but if you're at the ME stage, teach the MAC how to do it.

 

[GreenZombie]

Is it possible to attach a StorageBus to a ME chest on a different ME network (is is possible to power a ME chest without a ME controller?)?

Then I can put the 64kb memory module in the external chest, and populate it with cobble / quartz / 62 stacks of other items. Then I can just stock the drives in my principal network with 4kb/16kb modues.

 

[thestarlion]

Not sure. I know you can use a Storage Bus on a sub-network's Interface to allow the prime network access to what it's storing. I don't think you can do the same with an ME Chest, it'd try to connect to the network.

 

[Teebor]

You can power an me chest directly it doesn't need a controller. Not sure about the me bus thing though

pretty sure iirc that you cannot pipe things out as it doesn't work like a regular chest but you can pipe in.
Don't know how that relates to using an me bus though

 

[Wagon153]

Is it possible to attach a StorageBus to a ME chest on a different ME network (is is possible to power a ME chest without a ME controller?)?

Then I can put the 64kb memory module in the external chest, and populate it with cobble / quartz / 62 stacks of other items. Then I can just stock the drives in my principal network with 4kb/16kb modues.

This used to break worlds before Algorithm disabled it from happening in the code. This will be possible in AE2 however.
And it is possible to use a ME Chest without a controller.

 

[Zorkk]

It sounds like you are just letting everything go all willy nilly into the ME system. Must be a terrible mess.
(edit: yer not it seems, good)

When using AE, it is important to format the storage disks to maximize the performance. The ME preformatter let's you specify what a disk can store. For example, I have one disk formatted to accept all the ores , dusts, and ingots of anything you can pulverize/smelt. Another disk for the diamonds, emeralds, shards etc. I use dsu's for anything bulk, like cobblestone, dirt, gravel, sand. As it has been suggested use the filing cabinets to store same items with different dmg values. Lastly, I keep 1 ME chest, with a 1k unformatted disk in it to collect any misc stuff so I can then add it to the appropriate disk or make a new one.

I think if you start formatting you will see how advantageous it is to your ME system.

Edit:
IMHO the disks are not really meant to store 63 different items.

Z

 

[GreenZombie]

Edit:
IMHO the disks are not really meant to store 63 different items.

Z

Why not? ME storage seems to be most space efficient when the # of types on a storage disk is maximized. The basic 1kb disk can hold 63x65*64 , or 262080 items if there are 63 different stacks of 4160.
Or a mere 8128 items if it contains only 1 stack of items.

This math propagates the whole way through all the larger storage units. It gets VERY expensive to store less than the maximum number of types on each storage cell.

Also, it seems VERY fiddly to have to format every bloody disk for every bloody item. And that doesn't even seem to guarantee that the items that disk can store will be stored exclusively on that disk: Merely that no other items can be stored.

I guess the strategy is - when most items are in stacks of 4060 or less items
1. an ME drive with array of unpartitioned 1kb disks to store misc items.
2. an ME drive with an array of partitioned larger disks to store larger stacks. Boosting the priority of this drive should ensure that stacks of items the partitioned disks can store don't get left in scratch storage.
3. need to investigate that ExU filing cabinet for items will strange damage values. Or figure out how to auto-repair them to combine them for easy ME storage.

If/when "most" stacks in the system exceed 4060, then switch to 4kb (then 16kb) disks as the smallest scratch storage unit.

 

[thestarlion]

Even repaired, items with damage values and/or NBT don't stack, so you'll still want to use a Filing Cabinet. If you still want to repair and you have AM2 available, set up a system to route damaged tools, armour, etc to an Arcane Reconstructor, and pull out the undamaged items. Just set up a Nexus for a source of power nearby, add a few Foci to speed it up a bit, and leave it to run.

 

[Staxed]

Why not? ME storage seems to be most space efficient when the # of types on a storage disk is maximized. The basic 1kb disk can hold 63x65*64 , or 262080 items if there are 63 different stacks of 4160.
Or a mere 8128 items if it contains only 1 stack of items.

This math propagates the whole way through all the larger storage units. It gets VERY expensive to store less than the maximum number of types on each storage cell.

Also, it seems VERY fiddly to have to format every bloody disk for every bloody item. And that doesn't even seem to guarantee that the items that disk can store will be stored exclusively on that disk: Merely that no other items can be stored.

I guess the strategy is - when most items are in stacks of 4060 or less items
1. an ME drive with array of unpartitioned 1kb disks to store misc items.
2. an ME drive with an array of partitioned larger disks to store larger stacks. Boosting the priority of this drive should ensure that stacks of items the partitioned disks can store don't get left in scratch storage.
3. need to investigate that ExU filing cabinet for items will strange damage values. Or figure out how to auto-repair them to combine them for easy ME storage.

If/when "most" stacks in the system exceed 4060, then switch to 4kb (then 16kb) disks as the smallest scratch storage unit.

You have that backwards. An ME disk holds more items when there are less "types" of items in that disk. A disk that has 1 type of item uses 4 bits to store 1 of them, but uses 8 bits to store items if there are more than 1 type.

A 1k disk will never be able to hold 262080, not sure where you got that idea from...it can hold a total of 4160 items if there are 2-63 different item types, or 8128 if only 1 type.

As for the fiddly part...if you want your AE system to work the most efficiently...yes, you have to be fiddly. If you don't want to be fiddly...you have to accept the consequence.

Also, partitioning a disk does ensure those items go into that disk...as long as there aren't already items of that type in the system, and there isn't a higher priority place for the item to be stored. You need to use the priority system.

An unfomated disk with cobble in it will take priority over a cobble formatted disk...because the system will always send items to the place they already exist until it is full. In relation...an unfomated disk in a drive set to priority 10 will receive cobble over a cobble formatted disk in a drive set to priority 5. The system checks priority, and THEN it checks formatting.

 

[GreenZombie]

Have I read http://ae1.ae-mod.info/ME-Storage-Math/ entirely backwards?

 

[Staxed]

Have I read http://ae1.ae-mod.info/ME-Storage-Math/ entirely backwards?

The "stacks" of items listed is total stacks, not how many stacks per type of item.

 

[GreenZombie]

The "stacks" of items listed is total stacks, not how many stacks per type of item.

ah.
that changes things.

 

[Staxed]

Don't hesitate to ask any more questions about anything with AE...I will be watching...and I love AE

 

[GreenZombie]

Well then. Any tips on a general strategy for managing storage while keeping disks "as small as possible"?

I am still thinking that, filling a ME Drive with 1kb disks, with a ME Chest with "a larger drive" that I have formatted to hold my 'bulk' items (and a + priority on it) is the best way to store "all the things" without too much micromanagement.
When that fills with stacks (but not items), incrementally upgrade to 4kb disks, then 16kb disks.
If the actual number of stacks on each disk starts to approach 63, expand sideways with another ME drive...

Plus DSUs for items that can't be stored efficiently on my largest storage, and ExU Filing Cabinets for items with strange damage data. Although this option is feeling somewhat cheaty.

 

[Staxed]

My AE "Server Room" has 312 drives, multiple chests, etc (room for 3120+ disks) [i need to take pictures sometime soon]. So the scale on which I plan my sorting is a little larger than what you need, but hopefully the basic strategy will be the same .

I have 4 ME chests set to medium priority (3,4,5,6 respectively). All items that have not yet been assigned to a disk will go into these chests as a result.

From there, I decide which of those items I think should get their own dedicated disk, and which should share space in a "multiformated" disk. The multi-format disc would be small items, tools, damaged stuff, etc (if at all...sometimes I just leave single items in the chests). These chests have 64K disks in order to provide a very large buffer when I'm running multiple quarries.

For items that I want to keep (though in my case, I keep everything, and I don't actually use multi-formatted discs anymore...every single type of item gets it's own disk...gotta fill up my server room somehow...) I will format a 1K disk. All drives are set to priority 20. I will then export all of those items (using an IO port) into that disk and plop it into a drive.

When that drive turns red, or I see items in the chests that I know are already formatted...I will create a 4K (or 16, 64, etc depending on the size I'm replacing), format it for the item that needs more storage and then pop that one into a drive. Then take the old disk that is full and export it into the ME system using the IO port again.

I also use extra cells...do DSU's are not required since the larger disk hold WAY more than a DSU can anyway.[DOUBLEPOST=1398872250][/DOUBLEPOST]@rhn actually has a guide/explanation with pictures on how this system works. (his system is the same as mine...mines just a bit..."bigger")

http://forum.feed-the-beast.com/thr...and-guide-collection.42664/page-2#post-587528