----- Original Message -----
From: "Jeremy Chadwick" <free...@jdc.parodius.com>
Based on my experiences at home, I converted my desktop at work to
pure ZFS. The only issues I've run into have been programs that
extensively use mmap(2) - which is a known issue with ZFS.
Is your ZFS root filesystem associated with a pool that's mirrored or
using raidzX? What about mismatched /boot content (ZFS vs. UFS)? What
about booting into single-user mode?
http://wiki.freebsd.org/ZFSOnRoot indirectly hints at these problems but
doesn't outright admit them (yet should), so I'm curious to know how
people have solved them. Remembering manual "one-offs" for a system
configured this way is not acceptable (read: highly prone to
error/mistake). Is it worth the risk? Most administrators don't have
the tolerance for stuff like that in the middle of a system upgrade or
what not; they should be able to follow exactly what's in the handbook,
to a tee.
There's a link to www.dan.me.uk at the bottom of the above Wiki page
that outlines "the madness" that's required to configure the setup, all
of which has to be done by hand. I don't know many administrators who
are going to tolerate this when deploying numerous machines, especially
when compounded by the complexities mentioned above.
With regards installing machines with a root zfs we now use mfsBSD which
makes the process as simple as pie, so for those that haven't used it
give it a wirl:-
http://mfsbsd.vx.sk/
The mmap(2) and sendfile(2) complexities will bite an junior or
mid-level SA in the butt too -- they won't know why software starts
failing or behaving oddly (FreeBSD ftpd is a good example). It just so
happens that Apache, out-of-the-box, comes with mmap and sendfile use
disabled.
This is the same with nginx which is rapidly taking over from apache due
to its ability to scale much much better than apache does.
Proper mmap and sendfile integration are the only major issue we have
with moving all our machines to ZFS thanks to great work by everyone.
I really hope sendfile support in particular is fixed in the near future
but as I understanding it, that's not going to be simple at all :(
Regards
Steve
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