[zfs-discuss] ZFS on Dell with FreeBSD

[Krunal Desai]

On Wed, Oct 19, 2011 at 10:14 AM, Albert Shih <Albert.Shih at obspm.fr> wrote:
> 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)

I know the PERC H200 can be flashed with IT firmware, making it in
effect a "dumb" HBA perfect for ZFS usage. Perhaps the H800 has the
same? (If not, can you get the machine configured with a H200?)

If that's not an option, I think Option 2 will work. My first ZFS
server ran on a PERC 5/i, and I was forced to make 8 single-drive RAID
0s in the PERC Option ROM, but Solaris did not seem to mind that.

--khd