ZFS on Dell with FreeBSD

[Damien Fleuriot]

On 10/19/11 4:14 PM, Albert Shih wrote:
> Hi 
> 
> Sorry to cross-posting. I don't knwon which mailing-list I should post this
> message. 
> 
> I'll would like to use FreeBSD with ZFS on some Dell server with some
> MD1200 (classique DAS). 
> 
> When we buy a MD1200 we need a RAID PERC H800 card on the server so we have
> two options : 
> 
> 	1/ create a LV on the PERC H800 so the server see one volume and put
> 	the zpool on this unique volume and let the hardware manage the
> 	raid. 
> 
> 	2/ create 12 LV on the perc H800 (so without raid) and let FreeBSD
> 	and ZFS manage the raid. 
> 
> which one is the best solution ? 
> 
> Any advise about the RAM I need on the server (actually one MD1200 so 12x2To disk)
> 
> Regards.
> 
> JAS


Why would you post about freebsd on opensolaris' list is beyond me.


Regarding your options with the ZFS pool, you will want to set your
disks as JBOD, so you can aggregate them with ZFS and use its native
features (including the self healing).

If you setup a hardware RAID then create a ZFS pool off it, you'll miss
on the self healing because ZFS will not see the individual drives.



Regarding your RAM needs, you are providing too few information for an
accurate answer.

What will you use the server for ?



Regarding the H800 card on freebsd, I would test it beforehand if I were
you, there were problems getting the H200 working on 8.2 before.