On Fri, 4 May 2007, mike wrote:
Isn't the benefit of ZFS that it will allow you to use even the most
unreliable risks and be able to inform you when they are attempting to
corrupt your data?
Yes - I won't argue that ZFS can be applied exactly as you state above.
However, ZFS is no substitute for bad practices that include:
- not proactively replacing mechanical components *before* they fail
- not having maintenance policies in place
To me it sounds like he is a SOHO user; may not have a lot of funds to
go out and swap hardware on a whim like a company might.
You may be right - but you're simply guessing. The original system
probably cost around $3k (?? I could be wrong). So what I'm suggesting,
that he spend ~ $300, represents ~ 10% of the original system cost.
Since the OP asked for advice, I've given him the best advice I can come
up with. I've also encountered many users who don't keep up to date
with
current computer hardware capabilities and pricing, and who may be
completely unaware that you can purchase two 500Gb disk drives, with a 5
year warranty, for around $300. And possibly less if you checkout Frys
weekly bargin disk drive offers.
Now consider the total cost of ownership solution I recommended: 500
gigabytes of storage, coupled with ZFS, which translates into $60/
year for
5 years of error free storage capability. Can life get any better than
this! :)
Now contrast my recommendation with what you propose - re-targeting a
bunch of older disk drives, which incorporate older, less reliable
technology, with a view to saving money. How much is your time worth?
How many hours will it take you to recover from a failure of one of
these
older drives and the accompying increased risk of data loss.
If the ZFS savvy OP comes back to this list and says "Als' solution
is too
expensive" I'm perfectly willing to rethink my recommendation. For
now, I
believe it to be the best recommendation I can devise.
ZFS in my opinion is well-suited for those without access to
continuously upgraded hardware and expensive fault-tolerant
hardware-based solutions. It is ideal for home installations where
people think their data is safe until the disk completely dies. I
don't know how many non-savvy people I have helped over the years who
has no data protection, and ZFS could offer them at least some
fault-tolerance and protection against corruption, and could help
notify them when it is time to shut off their computer and call
someone to come swap out their disk and move their data to a fresh
drive before it's completely failed...
Agreed.
One piece-of-the-puzzle that's missing right now IMHO, is a reliable,
two port, low-cost PCI SATA disk controller. A solid/de-bugged 3124
driver would go a long way to ZFS-enabling a bunch of cost-
constrained ZFS
users.
And, while I'm working this hardware wish list, please ... a PCI- Express
based version of the SuperMicro AOC-SAT2-MV8 8-port Marvell based disk
controller card. Sun ... are you listening?
- mike
On 5/4/07, Al Hopper <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
On Fri, 4 May 2007, Lee Fyock wrote:
Hi--
I'm looking forward to using zfs on my Mac at some point. My desktop
server (a dual-1.25GHz G4) has a motley collection of discs that has
accreted over the years: internal EIDE 320GB (boot drive), internal
250, 200 and 160 GB drives, and an external USB 2.0 600 GB drive.
My guess is that I won't be able to use zfs on the boot 320 GB drive,
at least this year. I'd like to favor available space over
performance, and be able to swap out a failed drive without losing
any data.
So, what's the best zfs configuration in this situation? The FAQs
I've read are usually related to matched (in size) drives.
Seriously, the best solution here is to discard any drive that is 3
years
(or more) old[1] and purchase two new SATA 500Gb drives. Setup the
new
drives as a zfs mirror. Being a believer in diversity, I'd
recommend the
following two products (one of each):
- Western Digital Caviar RE2 WD5000YS 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA
3.0Gb/s Hard Drive [2]
- Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 (Perpendicular Recording) ST3500630AS
500GB
7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive
Not being familiar with Macs - I'm not sure about your availability of
SATA ports on the motherboard.
[1] it continues to amaze me that many sites, large or small, don't
have a
(written) policy for mechanical component replacement - whether disk
drives or fans.
[2] $151 at zipzoomfly.com
[3] $130 at newegg.com
Regards,
Al Hopper Logical Approach Inc, Plano, TX. [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Voice: 972.379.2133 Fax: 972.379.2134 Timezone: US CDT
OpenSolaris Governing Board (OGB) Member - Apr 2005 to Mar 2007
http://www.opensolaris.org/os/community/ogb/ogb_2005-2007/
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Al Hopper Logical Approach Inc, Plano, TX. [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Voice: 972.379.2133 Fax: 972.379.2134 Timezone: US CDT
OpenSolaris Governing Board (OGB) Member - Apr 2005 to Mar 2007
http://www.opensolaris.org/os/community/ogb/ogb_2005-2007/
