On Tue, 27 Jun 2006, Gregory Shaw wrote:
> Yes, but the idea of using software raid on a large server doesn't
> make sense in modern systems. If you've got a large database server
> that runs a large oracle instance, using CPU cycles for RAID is
> counter productive. Add to that the need to manage the hardware
> directly (drive microcode, drive brownouts/restarts, etc.) and the
> idea of using JBOD in modern systems starts to lose value in a big way.
>
> You will detect any corruption when doing a scrub. It's not end-to-
> end, but it's no worse than today with VxVM.
The initial impression I got, after reading the original post, is that its
author[1] does not grok something fundamental about ZFS and/or how it
works! Or does not understand that there are many CPU cycles in a modern
Unix box that are never taken advantage of.
It's clear to me that ZFS provides considerable, never before available,
features and facilities, and that any impact that ZFS may have on CPU or
memory utilization will become meaningless over time, as the # of CPU
cores increase - along with their performance. And that average system
memory size will continue to increase over time.
Perhaps the author is taking a narrow view that ZFS will *replace*
existing systems. I don't think that this will be the general case.
Especially in a large organization where politics and turf wars will
dominate any "technical" discussions and implementation decisions will be
made by senior management who are 100% buzzword compliant (and have
questionable technical/engineering skills). Rather it will provide the
system designer with a hugely powerful *new* tool to apply in system
design. And will challenge the designer to use it creatively and
effectively.
There is no such thing as the universal screw-driver. Every toolbox has
tens of screwdrivers and tool designers will continue to dream about
replacing them all with _one_ tool.
[1] Sorry Gregory.
Regards,
Al Hopper Logical Approach Inc, Plano, TX. [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Voice: 972.379.2133 Fax: 972.379.2134 Timezone: US CDT
OpenSolaris.Org Community Advisory Board (CAB) Member - Apr 2005
OpenSolaris Governing Board (OGB) Member - Feb 2006
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