On Wed, Dec 1, 2021 at 8:52 PM Michelle <miche...@msknight.com> wrote:
> Good advice. Thanks for taking the time. > > This remains one question ... can drives and partitions be mixed in a > ZFS pool? > > This project is a backup project which is actually a backup of a > backup, if that makes sense. > > The original data is spread across two servers, one running OI (the > main data store) and a Cisco NAS (my video/rip store). These are backed > up to external drives, with two backup sets for each. So I already have > a situation with one RAID resilient copy of the data, along with two > full external backups of the data. > > But I have a series of odd drives hanging around, as many people > probably do. And I want to do something useful with them. > > The only other alternative is to dismantle and trash the drives. > > So I am going to undertaken this project, and document it, so that > others in the same situation can find some use for their drives as > opposed to simply throwing away perfectly serviceable drives. > > Yes, the drives are going to be disparate. Most of them are WD Red > units, one is WD green. For this project I will also be re-using an old > motherboard which has been sitting in the attic for years. > > The operating system will be on its own SSD drive, and the whole thing > will be documented so in the case of an OS failure, the drive can > easily be rebuilt and reconfigured... because all the notes are there. > > So... yes... partially I'm doing this for the hell of it. And hopefully > my success or failure will be documented and of use to other people. I > have a small youtube channel - not monetized - where all this will > ultimately be recorded. > > I am not using ZFS . Therefore I will not be able to make a useful comment about ZFS issues . Your idea to use your spare disks as an additional backup facility is really a good idea . You are on a good track . You will not lose anything ( your efforts will increase your amount of experience , meaning your expertise ) , but in a serious hardware failure , your additional backups would be a very important resource for you . Over previous years I lost a serious amount of data due to not taking additional backups . My other opinion is that "Do not use concatenated drives , because , if one fails , it will cause failure of the others also . Therefore use independent drives . If one fails , the others will be usable ." With my best wishes and good health for all of you > > On Wed, 2021-12-01 at 20:08 +0300, Mehmet Erol Sanliturk wrote: > > On Wed, Dec 1, 2021 at 2:55 PM Michelle <miche...@msknight.com> > > wrote: > > > > > I'm trying to achieve a resilient way of bringing together all my > > > older > > > drives for a backup solution using scraps of whatever I can get my > > > hands on. > > > > > > I have closing on 12TB of data so even the 10 won't be enough to > > > back > > > everything up, but this is as much for the exercise of doing it, as > > > achieving anything solid. It won't be under pressure, but I'd > > > rather > > > push the envelope and see what I can do. > > > > > > So how would the command go? > > > > > > zpool create tank raidz mirror drive1 drive2 mirror drive3 drive4 > > > drive5 > > > > > > ...which is where I come unstuck with the 2TB drive in the mix. > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > A few days ago I lost many weeks of work because my drive #1 / 3 died > > , not > > synchronized into #2 / 3 and #3 / 3 . > > This made the computer unbootable . > > I replaced the failed disk and synchronized it with #2 . > > The disk #3 failed and made the computer unbootable . > > I replaced that disk and synchronized it with #2 . > > > > The #1 disk was new but bought approximately 5 year ago . > > > > You are saying your disks are older . > > > > One "safe" but slow choice would be the following . > > > > Use external USB docks for each of your disks and make their file > > systems > > compatible > > with your computer ( if your disks have other file systems ) . > > > > With your synchronization shell scripts (1) mount (2) rsync (3) > > un_mount > > your drives > > by using cron or ( manually which this option is not a good choice ) > > . > > > > If any one of your disks fails , it will not affect your computer . > > This will be slow but without any other harm . > > > > > > The most suitable additional action may be to backup your data to > > external > > disks > > regularly . These disks will not be continuously connected to the > > computer > > and will not be affected by electricity harmful effects . > > > > > > > > OR > > > > You may use another computer ( such as a single board computer ) as > > an NFS > > server > > ( or a NAS if one is available to you ) , and use your drives in that > > server . > > Then synchronize your drives from your computer . If any disk fails , > > it > > only affects the server > > but your computer continues to work without affection . > > > > > > > > Mehmet Erol Sanliturk > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > On Wed, 2021-12-01 at 11:17 +0000, James wrote: > > > > On 01/12/2021 08:31, Michelle wrote: > > > > > Say I was to put a 2tb, three 4tb and a 6tb together (a 2 and > > > > > two 4 > > > > > would make 10 and the other 4 and the 6 would also make 10) > > > > > > > > > > Would that be possible with ZFS now? > > > > > > > > I think it has always been possible, ask is is sensible? Try it, > > > > if > > > > you > > > > have nothing to loose. The problem is if one drive fails is > > > > takes > > > > out > > > > all of one side of the mirror. > > > > > > > > Why not use 2 separate 4TB mirrors? 4&4 = 4, 4&6 = 4, total > > > > 8. You > > > > loose the 2TB drive completely but (guessing) it is the slowest > > > > and > > > > oldest. You ignore 2TB of the 6. > > > > > > > > You don't say what you are trying to achieve but it's unlikely > > > > you > > > > have > > > > the full 8TB of data, it is unlikely it can't be split. > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > > > openindiana-discuss mailing list > > > > openindiana-discuss@openindiana.org > > > > https://openindiana.org/mailman/listinfo/openindiana-discuss > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > > openindiana-discuss mailing list > > > openindiana-discuss@openindiana.org > > > https://openindiana.org/mailman/listinfo/openindiana-discuss > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > openindiana-discuss mailing list > > openindiana-discuss@openindiana.org > > https://openindiana.org/mailman/listinfo/openindiana-discuss > > > _______________________________________________ > openindiana-discuss mailing list > openindiana-discuss@openindiana.org > https://openindiana.org/mailman/listinfo/openindiana-discuss > _______________________________________________ openindiana-discuss mailing list openindiana-discuss@openindiana.org https://openindiana.org/mailman/listinfo/openindiana-discuss
