zfs discuss - Nov 2007 - exporting a zfs pool from SPARC to x86

Hi Folks,

I''ve got a 4 Tb pool on a 3511 array. The pool was created from, and  
is mounted on, an old 280r. I''d like to export the pool from the 280r  
and import it to a shiny new x2200.

Will this work? Will the x2200 understand the disk labels made by the  
280r? Some tests we''ve done on a smaller, non-production pool suggest  
not.

Suggestions or pointers welcome.

Thanks
Eddie

On Mon, Nov 19, 2007 at 07:09:21AM +1100, Edward Irvine
wrote:
> Hi Folks,
> 
> I''ve got a 4 Tb pool on a 3511 array. The pool was created from,
and
> is mounted on, an old 280r. I''d like to export the pool from the
280r
> and import it to a shiny new x2200.
> 
> Will this work? Will the x2200 understand the disk labels made by the  
> 280r? Some tests we''ve done on a smaller, non-production pool
suggest
> not.
If you have allowed ZFS to use whole disks (which write EFI labels),
then the answer is yes.  If you manually labeled the disks using Sun
VTOC, then the answer is no.  The VTOC label is not endian-neutral, and
was the main reason ZFS uses EFI labels (though there are other benefits
as well).

What were the failures were you seeing in your dev setup?

- Eric

--
Eric Schrock, FishWorks                        http://blogs.sun.com/eschrock