I was just wondering of why someone might choose Sparse vs. Whole Root Zones, what are the benefits of one over the other, I need to decide in my new data center which one should I be using since there is no easy way to switching between them after they are created at least from Sun's support perspective. So when I set my standard of creating zones I have to make sure that I have no need to going from the one that is selected into the other if such would be required... So in other words I wanted to cover all benefits for both and chose best alternative for my standards.
On Fri, 30 May 2008, Enda O'Connor wrote: > Krzys wrote: >> I am not sure if this question was already asked or not, but can you please >> tell me or point me to links where I can find what are the benefits or >> problems to have Sparse vs. Whole Root Zones? >> >> Here is what I have so far, please correct me if I'm wron on any of them. >> >> Whole Root Zones >> * Each zone is assigned its own root file system and cannot see that of >> others > the bit about "cannot see that of others" applies to any type of zone ( > sparse branded etc ) >> * A zone can be created as a whole-rootzone >> > The zone gets its own writable copy of all Solaris file systems > it gets it's own writable copies of /usr /platform /sbin /lib to be percise, > along with all the otehr file systems. >> * Advantages of a whole root zone >> > installation of software such as WebSphere MQ v6.0 is easily >> acomplished since MQ must be installed into an environment where /opt and >> /usr are writable. >> > portability > yes, some software does require writable /usr >> >> Sparse Zones >> > The default file system configuration is called a sparse-rootzone > yes >> > The zone contains its own writable /etc, /var, /proc, /dev > these are writable in any zone type assuming default install. >> > Inherited file systems (/usr, /lib, /platform, /sbin) are read-only >> mounted via a loopback file system (LOFS) > yes >> > /opt is a good candidate for inheriting > possibly, but depends really on whether you want your zone to be able to > write to /opt or not. >> * Advantages of a sparse root zone >> > Faster patching and installation due to inheritance of /usr and /lib > yes >> > Read-only access prevents trojan horse attacks against other zones > not really applicable as such in my opinion, each sparse root zone will see > the global zone's /usr for instance. But cannot modify /usr in any way. >> > Libraries shared across all zones reducing VM footprint > yes, but not really an issue unless you run a massive amount of zones and > don't have resources to cope. >> > > > BTW if you just want /usr writable, then you could leave the other file > systems such as /lib /platform and /sbin as inherited. > > But it depends on what software you are trying to install ( and where it > wants to write to ) > > Enda >> _______________________________________________ >> zones-discuss mailing list >> [email protected] > > > !DSPAM:122,48400c3126842021468! > _______________________________________________ zones-discuss mailing list [email protected]
