On Thu, 2008-07-31 at 13:25 -0700, Ross wrote: > Hey folks, > > I guess this is an odd question to be asking here, but I could do with some > feedback from anybody who's actually using ZFS in anger.
ZFS in anger ? That's an interesting way of putting it :-) > but I have some real concerns about whether I can really trust ZFS to > keep my data alive if things go wrong. This is a big step for us, > we're a 100% windows company and I'm really going out on a limb by > pushing Solaris. I can appreciate how this could be considered a risk, especially if it is your idea. But let's put this all in perspective and you'll see why it isn't even remotely a question. I have put all sorts of file servers into production with things like Online Disk Suite 1.0, NFS V1 - and slept like a baby. Now, for the non-historians on the list, the quality of Online Disk Suite 1.0 led directly to the creation of the volume management marketplace and Veritas in particular (hey - that's a joke, OK ???? but only marginally). > The question is whether I can make a server I can be confident in. > I'm now planning a very basic OpenSolaris server just using ZFS as a > NFS server, is there anybody out there who can re-assure me that such > a server can work well and handle real life drive failures? There are two questions in there - can it be built and are you comfortable with it. Those are two different things. The simple answer to the first is yes. Although if this is mission critical (and things like NFS servers generally are - even if they are only serving up iTunes music libraries - ask my daughter). Enda's point about the Marvell driver updates for Solaris 10 should be carefully considered. If it's just an NFS server then the vast majority of OpenSolaris benefits won't be applicable (newer GNOME, better packaging, better Linux interoperability, etc). Putting this one Solaris 10 with Live Upgrade and a service contract would make me sleep like a baby. Now, for the other question - if you are looking at this like an appliance then you might not be quite as happy. It does take a little care and feeding, but nearly every piece of technology more complicated than a toaster needs a little love every once in a while. I would much rather put a Solaris/ZFS file server into a Windows environment than a Windows file server into a Unix environment :-) Bob _______________________________________________ zfs-discuss mailing list zfs-discuss@opensolaris.org http://mail.opensolaris.org/mailman/listinfo/zfs-discuss
