Hi, I was first attracted to ZFS (and therefore OpenSolaris) because I thought that ZFS allowed the used of different sized disks in raidz pools without wasted disk space. Further research has confirmed that this isn't possible--by default.
I have seen a little bit of documentation around using ZFS with slices. I think this might be the answer, but I would like to be sure what the compromise is if I go down this path. I am trying to set up a file server for my home office. I would like as much storage space as possible, and I need to be able to survive one drive failing. Here is what I have: DiskA - 160GB DiskB - 200GB DiskC - 250GB DiskD - 500GB DiskE - 500GB (I also have a separate 20GB disk that I will be booting from.) Here is the best way I can see to maximize storage: -160GB slice on all disks --Put these into a raidz1 zpool -40GB slice on disks B through E --Put these into a raidz1 zpool -50GB slice on disks C through E --Put these into a raidz1 zpool -250GB slice on disks C and E --Put these into a raidz1 zpool Then I put the 4 zpools into a striped zpool. That [i]should[/i] leave me with 1110GB of storage space (out of the 1610GB of hard disk space). If a hard drive fails, one of more of my raidz1 zpools with become degraded. However, I should be able to replace that drive, slice it like the previous drive and then I should be back in business. How much extra work am I going to spend trying to maintain a structure this complicated? If a drive fails and I replace it with a drive of a different size (bigger or smaller) what kind of hell will I be putting myself through to reorganize things? What if I want to add a new disk of a different size? Most importantly, am I putting my data at risk by having (and manipulating) these extra 'layers'? How much more difficult will it be to recover if my system completely crashes and I need to reinstall the O/S? I much simpler layout might be Disks A through C in one raidz1 zpool and Disks D and E in another raidz1 zpool (there is a good chance I'll buy another 500GB disk in the next month). This leaves me with 820GB. It is a lot less efficient, but the set up is much simpler to maintain. (It will be a little more difficult to use because I'll have two file systems, not one.) I have attached a spreadsheet that calculates how big each slice should be if I want to be as efficient as possible with the storage. Any comments? Thanks! This message posted from opensolaris.org
zfs-disks.xls
Description: MS-Excel spreadsheet
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