zfs discuss - Mar 2006 - Looking for advice on how to go about this storage configuration.

Hi,

Based on my testing of ZFS, I''m pretty sure we want to go that route
for
storage. That being said, we need a lot of space. ;) I''d like to go
with a
true ZFS solution (ZFS/RaidZ), not ZFS on top of some vendor''s raid.

I was thinking iSCSI might be our best option for value/usability. Our
needs aren''t extremely high bandwidth for this particular application,
it
will be mostly nightly backups of large amounts of data, but with no time
constraints. So GigE is more than enough. That being said, I don''t
think
investing in a ton of FC gear makes a lot of sense. iSCSI would also allow
Solaris to handle ZFS at the drive/block level, if I have read everything
correctly. I believe initiator support is in Solaris, so it should have
full functionality, if I am not mistaken. (Please correct me if I am
wrong!)

I like all of the data checking, the drive status, etc. My plan thus far
is to get some kind of iSCSI drive cage, a sun x2100 or something of the
sort, and handle it that way. Does this make sense? I''d love to go with
Sun''s storage options, but at this point they seem overly expensive for
my
needs.

I''d like to find an inexpensive (but not cheap..) drive cage that could
export each individual drive to Solaris via iSCSI, so it could utilize
them just like they were physically attached to the box itself. I don''t
really have any concrete numbers on space we need yet, but I believe the
minimum amount of drives we''ll need is 4. So anything that is capable
of
holding 4 drives or more would be great.

I''ve found a couple things while searching, but they are generally in
the
pricey->extremely pricey range. I don''t think it makes sense to
shell out
$10k for a 10 drive cage which is only converting SATA to iSCSI. I
don''t
need all the fancy raid capabilities/etc, because I intend on doing that
with Solaris/ZFS (if this is possible, again - please advise!!)

Oh, and to be clear, I plan on using (cheap) SATA drives.

Thank you for your input, I''m posting this on ZFS because I''m
not sure if
this is even possible with Solaris/ZFS/iSCSI, or if there is a better
option for what I''m trying to do.

Cheers,
David

SBEi sells iscsi target software, that could go with any system. That
can be mid-tier expensive for your needs (~4K for 15 drive SATA
systems)

Alternatively, check out the promise Vtrak series. The 300i/m provides
12 drives, the 500i/m provides 15 drives. The former is $4K.


On 3/22/06, David J. Orman <ormandj at corenode.com>
wrote:
> Hi,
>
> Based on my testing of ZFS, I''m pretty sure we want to go that
route for
> storage. That being said, we need a lot of space. ;) I''d like to
go with a
> true ZFS solution (ZFS/RaidZ), not ZFS on top of some vendor''s
raid.
>
> I was thinking iSCSI might be our best option for value/usability. Our
> needs aren''t extremely high bandwidth for this particular
application, it
> will be mostly nightly backups of large amounts of data, but with no time
> constraints. So GigE is more than enough. That being said, I don''t
think
> investing in a ton of FC gear makes a lot of sense. iSCSI would also allow
> Solaris to handle ZFS at the drive/block level, if I have read everything
> correctly. I believe initiator support is in Solaris, so it should have
> full functionality, if I am not mistaken. (Please correct me if I am
> wrong!)
>
> I like all of the data checking, the drive status, etc. My plan thus far
> is to get some kind of iSCSI drive cage, a sun x2100 or something of the
> sort, and handle it that way. Does this make sense? I''d love to go
with
> Sun''s storage options, but at this point they seem overly
expensive for my
> needs.
>
> I''d like to find an inexpensive (but not cheap..) drive cage that
could
> export each individual drive to Solaris via iSCSI, so it could utilize
> them just like they were physically attached to the box itself. I
don''t
> really have any concrete numbers on space we need yet, but I believe the
> minimum amount of drives we''ll need is 4. So anything that is
capable of
> holding 4 drives or more would be great.
>
> I''ve found a couple things while searching, but they are generally
in the
> pricey->extremely pricey range. I don''t think it makes sense to
shell out
> $10k for a 10 drive cage which is only converting SATA to iSCSI. I
don''t
> need all the fancy raid capabilities/etc, because I intend on doing that
> with Solaris/ZFS (if this is possible, again - please advise!!)
>
> Oh, and to be clear, I plan on using (cheap) SATA drives.
>
> Thank you for your input, I''m posting this on ZFS because
I''m not sure if
> this is even possible with Solaris/ZFS/iSCSI, or if there is a better
> option for what I''m trying to do.
>
> Cheers,
> David
>
> _______________________________________________
> zfs-discuss mailing list
> zfs-discuss at opensolaris.org
> http://mail.opensolaris.org/mailman/listinfo/zfs-discuss
>

I''m currently working on an iSCSI Target solution for Solaris. The
project has been kind of a "Skunk Works" project until recently which
is why I''ve not spoken about this sooner. I''m currently
working on the integration effort now.
This message posted from opensolaris.org

The problem I foresee for the short term on any iSCSI target on
Solaris is the lack of drivers for larger SATA cards. Albeit most of
them are RAID-capable and that isn''t necessary w/ RAIDZ, only the
Adaptec 16-port card is currently supported by Solaris. If you want to
use 3ware, LSI, etc.. you''ll need a Windows, Linux or other OS iSCSI
target. I''d love to see the Solaris target, but it may be needlessly
encumbered for commodity storage because of solaris''s poor driver
support for interesting hardware.


On 3/22/06, Rick McNeal <ramcneal at gmail.com>
wrote:
> I''m currently working on an iSCSI Target solution for Solaris. The
project has been kind of a "Skunk Works" project until recently which
is why I''ve not spoken about this sooner. I''m currently
working on the integration effort now.
> This message posted from opensolaris.org
> _______________________________________________
> zfs-discuss mailing list
> zfs-discuss at opensolaris.org
> http://mail.opensolaris.org/mailman/listinfo/zfs-discuss
>

On Wed, Mar 22, 2006 at 08:29:25PM -0800, Joe Little
wrote:
> The problem I foresee for the short term on any iSCSI target on
> Solaris is the lack of drivers for larger SATA cards. Albeit most of
> them are RAID-capable and that isn''t necessary w/ RAIDZ, only the
> Adaptec 16-port card is currently supported by Solaris. If you want to
> use 3ware, LSI, etc.. you''ll need a Windows, Linux or other OS
iSCSI
> target. I''d love to see the Solaris target, but it may be
needlessly
> encumbered for commodity storage because of solaris''s poor driver
> support for interesting hardware.
It depends on how you define "interesting".  SuperMicro makes two
cards
based on the Marvell SATA chipset that are non-RAID.  The DAC-SATA-MV8
is an 8-port SATA-I card based on the Marvell 5081 and sells for about
$100.  The AOC-SAT2-MV8 is an 8-port SATA-II card based on the Marvell
6081 and sells for about $125.  Both cards are currently supported by a
native Solaris driver.

Given that you don''t need RAID support in the card, the 3ware and LSI
cards will typically cost more (a quick check shows them at well above
$200) since you''re paying for the SW stack that you won''t be
using.

I''ve been using the Marvell controllers for a while and am very happy
with them.  As you can imagine, being a ZFS developer means I also need
machines with a good number of disks that are cheaply attached.


--Bill

Bill,

What are you using as an enclosure for the drives? I''d be very
interested
in this. :) I''d love to be able to buy relatively inexpensive x2100s,
slap
them on an enclosure, and export the ZFS fs''s via NFS. I think the
x2100s
are more than enough machine to serve as a glorified fileserver using
ZFS/RaidZ.

Rick, if possible could you tell us what the status is of target mode?
Will that be in Sol10U2?

Thanks,
David
> On Wed, Mar 22, 2006 at 08:29:25PM -0800, Joe Little wrote:
>> The problem I foresee for the short term on any iSCSI target on
>> Solaris is the lack of drivers for larger SATA cards. Albeit most of
>> them are RAID-capable and that isn''t necessary w/ RAIDZ, only
the
>> Adaptec 16-port card is currently supported by Solaris. If you want to
>> use 3ware, LSI, etc.. you''ll need a Windows, Linux or other OS
iSCSI
>> target. I''d love to see the Solaris target, but it may be
needlessly
>> encumbered for commodity storage because of solaris''s poor
driver
>> support for interesting hardware.
>
> It depends on how you define "interesting".  SuperMicro makes two
cards
> based on the Marvell SATA chipset that are non-RAID.  The DAC-SATA-MV8
> is an 8-port SATA-I card based on the Marvell 5081 and sells for about
> $100.  The AOC-SAT2-MV8 is an 8-port SATA-II card based on the Marvell
> 6081 and sells for about $125.  Both cards are currently supported by a
> native Solaris driver.
>
> Given that you don''t need RAID support in the card, the 3ware and
LSI
> cards will typically cost more (a quick check shows them at well above
> $200) since you''re paying for the SW stack that you won''t
be using.
>
> I''ve been using the Marvell controllers for a while and am very
happy
> with them.  As you can imagine, being a ZFS developer means I also need
> machines with a good number of disks that are cheaply attached.
>
>
> --Bill
> _______________________________________________
> zfs-discuss mailing list
> zfs-discuss at opensolaris.org
> http://mail.opensolaris.org/mailman/listinfo/zfs-discuss
>

On Wed, Mar 22, 2006 at 08:03:23PM -1000, David J. Orman
wrote:
> What are you using as an enclosure for the drives? I''d be very
interested
> in this. :)
Probably disappointing from your point of view, but I just have a simple
desktop with 8 internal drive slots.
> I''d love to be able to buy relatively inexpensive x2100s, slap
> them on an enclosure, and export the ZFS fs''s via NFS.
That would be very cool.  I have been quite disappointed, though, trying
to find a SATA JBOD that is simple, cheap, and rackmountable.  I did
see this article, which has me interested:
    
    http://www.linuxelectrons.com/article.php/20060121142043528

Please post to this group if you wind up finding something that fits
your needs.  I''m sure I''m not the only one interested.  :)
> I think the x2100s are more than enough machine to serve as a
> glorified fileserver using ZFS/RaidZ.
Absolutely.  There aren''t many everyday environments where you would
overload a setup like that.


--Bill

I should probably also mention that my iSCSI target does SCSI
emulation for disk drives with the backing store being a normal unix
file. Therefore, you''d be able to create a target which has
it''s
storage on ZFS in a raidz configuration. The target also has a pass
through mode for those that feel the need to create a bridge.

On 3/22/06, Joe Little <jmlittle at gmail.com>
wrote:
> The problem I foresee for the short term on any iSCSI target on
> Solaris is the lack of drivers for larger SATA cards. Albeit most of
> them are RAID-capable and that isn''t necessary w/ RAIDZ, only the
> Adaptec 16-port card is currently supported by Solaris. If you want to
> use 3ware, LSI, etc.. you''ll need a Windows, Linux or other OS
iSCSI
> target. I''d love to see the Solaris target, but it may be
needlessly
> encumbered for commodity storage because of solaris''s poor driver
> support for interesting hardware.
>
>
> On 3/22/06, Rick McNeal <ramcneal at gmail.com> wrote:
> > I''m currently working on an iSCSI Target solution for
Solaris. The project has been kind of a "Skunk Works" project until
recently which is why I''ve not spoken about this sooner. I''m
currently working on the integration effort now.
> > This message posted from opensolaris.org
> > _______________________________________________
> > zfs-discuss mailing list
> > zfs-discuss at opensolaris.org
> > http://mail.opensolaris.org/mailman/listinfo/zfs-discuss
> >
>

--
Rick McNeal

A good friend will come and bail you out of jail ... but, a true
friend will be sitting next to you saying, "Damn .. that was fun!"

This is the only place I have found that sells a good amount of external SATA
gear:

http://www.cooldrives.com/sataenclosures.html

David J. Orman wrote:
> Bill,
> 
> What are you using as an enclosure for the drives? I''d be very
interested
> in this. :) I''d love to be able to buy relatively inexpensive
x2100s, slap
> them on an enclosure, and export the ZFS fs''s via NFS. I think the
x2100s
> are more than enough machine to serve as a glorified fileserver using
> ZFS/RaidZ.
> 
> Rick, if possible could you tell us what the status is of target mode?
> Will that be in Sol10U2?
> 
> Thanks,
> David
> 
>> On Wed, Mar 22, 2006 at 08:29:25PM -0800, Joe Little wrote:
>>> The problem I foresee for the short term on any iSCSI target on
>>> Solaris is the lack of drivers for larger SATA cards. Albeit most
of
>>> them are RAID-capable and that isn''t necessary w/ RAIDZ,
only the
>>> Adaptec 16-port card is currently supported by Solaris. If you want
to
>>> use 3ware, LSI, etc.. you''ll need a Windows, Linux or
other OS iSCSI
>>> target. I''d love to see the Solaris target, but it may be
needlessly
>>> encumbered for commodity storage because of solaris''s poor
driver
>>> support for interesting hardware.
>> It depends on how you define "interesting".  SuperMicro makes
two cards
>> based on the Marvell SATA chipset that are non-RAID.  The DAC-SATA-MV8
>> is an 8-port SATA-I card based on the Marvell 5081 and sells for about
>> $100.  The AOC-SAT2-MV8 is an 8-port SATA-II card based on the Marvell
>> 6081 and sells for about $125.  Both cards are currently supported by a
>> native Solaris driver.
>>
>> Given that you don''t need RAID support in the card, the 3ware
and LSI
>> cards will typically cost more (a quick check shows them at well above
>> $200) since you''re paying for the SW stack that you
won''t be using.
>>
>> I''ve been using the Marvell controllers for a while and am
very happy
>> with them.  As you can imagine, being a ZFS developer means I also need
>> machines with a good number of disks that are cheaply attached.
>>
>>
>> --Bill
>> _______________________________________________
>> zfs-discuss mailing list
>> zfs-discuss at opensolaris.org
>> http://mail.opensolaris.org/mailman/listinfo/zfs-discuss
>>
> 
> 
> _______________________________________________
> zfs-discuss mailing list
> zfs-discuss at opensolaris.org
> http://mail.opensolaris.org/mailman/listinfo/zfs-discuss

I found a couple of options for rack-gear. Since the marvell controller
listed that is supported fully in Solaris is max 8 ports..

http://www.granitedigital.com/catalog/pg61_alumhotswap2-4-8rack.htm

http://www.macgurus.com/productpages/sata/Burly8RHS.php

These are really the only two options I''ve come across for an 8 drive
rack
solution. Everybody just makes towers it seems.

Cheers,
David
> This is the only place I have found that sells a good amount of external
> SATA gear:
>
> http://www.cooldrives.com/sataenclosures.html
>
> David J. Orman wrote:
>> Bill,
>>
>> What are you using as an enclosure for the drives? I''d be very
>> interested
>> in this. :) I''d love to be able to buy relatively inexpensive
x2100s,
>> slap
>> them on an enclosure, and export the ZFS fs''s via NFS. I think
the
>> x2100s
>> are more than enough machine to serve as a glorified fileserver using
>> ZFS/RaidZ.
>>
>> Rick, if possible could you tell us what the status is of target mode?
>> Will that be in Sol10U2?
>>
>> Thanks,
>> David
>>
>>> On Wed, Mar 22, 2006 at 08:29:25PM -0800, Joe Little wrote:
>>>> The problem I foresee for the short term on any iSCSI target on
>>>> Solaris is the lack of drivers for larger SATA cards. Albeit
most of
>>>> them are RAID-capable and that isn''t necessary w/
RAIDZ, only the
>>>> Adaptec 16-port card is currently supported by Solaris. If you
want to
>>>> use 3ware, LSI, etc.. you''ll need a Windows, Linux or
other OS iSCSI
>>>> target. I''d love to see the Solaris target, but it may
be needlessly
>>>> encumbered for commodity storage because of solaris''s
poor driver
>>>> support for interesting hardware.
>>> It depends on how you define "interesting".  SuperMicro
makes two cards
>>> based on the Marvell SATA chipset that are non-RAID.  The
DAC-SATA-MV8
>>> is an 8-port SATA-I card based on the Marvell 5081 and sells for
about
>>> $100.  The AOC-SAT2-MV8 is an 8-port SATA-II card based on the
Marvell
>>> 6081 and sells for about $125.  Both cards are currently supported
by a
>>> native Solaris driver.
>>>
>>> Given that you don''t need RAID support in the card, the
3ware and LSI
>>> cards will typically cost more (a quick check shows them at well
above
>>> $200) since you''re paying for the SW stack that you
won''t be using.
>>>
>>> I''ve been using the Marvell controllers for a while and am
very happy
>>> with them.  As you can imagine, being a ZFS developer means I also
need
>>> machines with a good number of disks that are cheaply attached.
>>>
>>>
>>> --Bill
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> zfs-discuss mailing list
>>> zfs-discuss at opensolaris.org
>>> http://mail.opensolaris.org/mailman/listinfo/zfs-discuss
>>>
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> zfs-discuss mailing list
>> zfs-discuss at opensolaris.org
>> http://mail.opensolaris.org/mailman/listinfo/zfs-discuss
>

One nice thing that cooldrives has is the multilane adapters that will run 4x
SATA ports over a single 4x Infiniband cable.  They even have a 4 port card with
one on it instead of 4 SATA connectors.

David J. Orman wrote:
> I found a couple of options for rack-gear. Since the marvell controller
> listed that is supported fully in Solaris is max 8 ports..
> 
> http://www.granitedigital.com/catalog/pg61_alumhotswap2-4-8rack.htm
> 
> http://www.macgurus.com/productpages/sata/Burly8RHS.php
> 
> These are really the only two options I''ve come across for an 8
drive rack
> solution. Everybody just makes towers it seems.
> 
> Cheers,
> David
> 
>> This is the only place I have found that sells a good amount of
external
>> SATA gear:
>>
>> http://www.cooldrives.com/sataenclosures.html
>>
>> David J. Orman wrote:
>>> Bill,
>>>
>>> What are you using as an enclosure for the drives? I''d be
very
>>> interested
>>> in this. :) I''d love to be able to buy relatively
inexpensive x2100s,
>>> slap
>>> them on an enclosure, and export the ZFS fs''s via NFS. I
think the
>>> x2100s
>>> are more than enough machine to serve as a glorified fileserver
using
>>> ZFS/RaidZ.
>>>
>>> Rick, if possible could you tell us what the status is of target
mode?
>>> Will that be in Sol10U2?
>>>
>>> Thanks,
>>> David
>>>
>>>> On Wed, Mar 22, 2006 at 08:29:25PM -0800, Joe Little wrote:
>>>>> The problem I foresee for the short term on any iSCSI
target on
>>>>> Solaris is the lack of drivers for larger SATA cards.
Albeit most of
>>>>> them are RAID-capable and that isn''t necessary w/
RAIDZ, only the
>>>>> Adaptec 16-port card is currently supported by Solaris. If
you want to
>>>>> use 3ware, LSI, etc.. you''ll need a Windows, Linux
or other OS iSCSI
>>>>> target. I''d love to see the Solaris target, but it
may be needlessly
>>>>> encumbered for commodity storage because of
solaris''s poor driver
>>>>> support for interesting hardware.
>>>> It depends on how you define "interesting". 
SuperMicro makes two cards
>>>> based on the Marvell SATA chipset that are non-RAID.  The
DAC-SATA-MV8
>>>> is an 8-port SATA-I card based on the Marvell 5081 and sells
for about
>>>> $100.  The AOC-SAT2-MV8 is an 8-port SATA-II card based on the
Marvell
>>>> 6081 and sells for about $125.  Both cards are currently
supported by a
>>>> native Solaris driver.
>>>>
>>>> Given that you don''t need RAID support in the card,
the 3ware and LSI
>>>> cards will typically cost more (a quick check shows them at
well above
>>>> $200) since you''re paying for the SW stack that you
won''t be using.
>>>>
>>>> I''ve been using the Marvell controllers for a while
and am very happy
>>>> with them.  As you can imagine, being a ZFS developer means I
also need
>>>> machines with a good number of disks that are cheaply attached.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> --Bill
>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>> zfs-discuss mailing list
>>>> zfs-discuss at opensolaris.org
>>>> http://mail.opensolaris.org/mailman/listinfo/zfs-discuss
>>>>
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> zfs-discuss mailing list
>>> zfs-discuss at opensolaris.org
>>> http://mail.opensolaris.org/mailman/listinfo/zfs-discuss
> 
>

Does it work with Solaris? :) I''d be more than happy to use one of
these
neat proprietary designs (I found a ton of enclosures which use 4x
infiniband cable), but none of them say they work with Solaris. If
they''ll
work with Solaris, and let ZFS manage the drives directly, I''d be all
over
it! Excuse my ignorance of storage, I''m learning as I go.

David
> One nice thing that cooldrives has is the multilane adapters that will run
> 4x SATA ports over a single 4x Infiniband cable.  They even have a 4 port
> card with one on it instead of 4 SATA connectors.
>
> David J. Orman wrote:
>> I found a couple of options for rack-gear. Since the marvell controller
>> listed that is supported fully in Solaris is max 8 ports..
>>
>> http://www.granitedigital.com/catalog/pg61_alumhotswap2-4-8rack.htm
>>
>> http://www.macgurus.com/productpages/sata/Burly8RHS.php
>>
>> These are really the only two options I''ve come across for an
8 drive
>> rack
>> solution. Everybody just makes towers it seems.
>>
>> Cheers,
>> David
>>
>>> This is the only place I have found that sells a good amount of
>>> external
>>> SATA gear:
>>>
>>> http://www.cooldrives.com/sataenclosures.html
>>>
>>> David J. Orman wrote:
>>>> Bill,
>>>>
>>>> What are you using as an enclosure for the drives? I''d
be very
>>>> interested
>>>> in this. :) I''d love to be able to buy relatively
inexpensive x2100s,
>>>> slap
>>>> them on an enclosure, and export the ZFS fs''s via NFS.
I think the
>>>> x2100s
>>>> are more than enough machine to serve as a glorified fileserver
using
>>>> ZFS/RaidZ.
>>>>
>>>> Rick, if possible could you tell us what the status is of
target mode?
>>>> Will that be in Sol10U2?
>>>>
>>>> Thanks,
>>>> David
>>>>
>>>>> On Wed, Mar 22, 2006 at 08:29:25PM -0800, Joe Little wrote:
>>>>>> The problem I foresee for the short term on any iSCSI
target on
>>>>>> Solaris is the lack of drivers for larger SATA cards.
Albeit most of
>>>>>> them are RAID-capable and that isn''t necessary
w/ RAIDZ, only the
>>>>>> Adaptec 16-port card is currently supported by Solaris.
If you want
>>>>>> to
>>>>>> use 3ware, LSI, etc.. you''ll need a Windows,
Linux or other OS iSCSI
>>>>>> target. I''d love to see the Solaris target,
but it may be needlessly
>>>>>> encumbered for commodity storage because of
solaris''s poor driver
>>>>>> support for interesting hardware.
>>>>> It depends on how you define "interesting". 
SuperMicro makes two
>>>>> cards
>>>>> based on the Marvell SATA chipset that are non-RAID.  The
>>>>> DAC-SATA-MV8
>>>>> is an 8-port SATA-I card based on the Marvell 5081 and
sells for
>>>>> about
>>>>> $100.  The AOC-SAT2-MV8 is an 8-port SATA-II card based on
the
>>>>> Marvell
>>>>> 6081 and sells for about $125.  Both cards are currently
supported by
>>>>> a
>>>>> native Solaris driver.
>>>>>
>>>>> Given that you don''t need RAID support in the
card, the 3ware and LSI
>>>>> cards will typically cost more (a quick check shows them at
well
>>>>> above
>>>>> $200) since you''re paying for the SW stack that
you won''t be using.
>>>>>
>>>>> I''ve been using the Marvell controllers for a
while and am very happy
>>>>> with them.  As you can imagine, being a ZFS developer means
I also
>>>>> need
>>>>> machines with a good number of disks that are cheaply
attached.
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> --Bill
>>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>>> zfs-discuss mailing list
>>>>> zfs-discuss at opensolaris.org
>>>>> http://mail.opensolaris.org/mailman/listinfo/zfs-discuss
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>> zfs-discuss mailing list
>>>> zfs-discuss at opensolaris.org
>>>> http://mail.opensolaris.org/mailman/listinfo/zfs-discuss
>>
>>
>

I just noticed your question about the status of the target mode. It
will not make S10U2. I''m working as fast as possible to complete the
necessary process to integrate into Solaris 11. Once integrate I''ll
look at doing the necessary steps to integrate into the next available
update release.

On 3/22/06, David J. Orman <ormandj at corenode.com>
wrote:
> Bill,
>
> What are you using as an enclosure for the drives? I''d be very
interested
> in this. :) I''d love to be able to buy relatively inexpensive
x2100s, slap
> them on an enclosure, and export the ZFS fs''s via NFS. I think the
x2100s
> are more than enough machine to serve as a glorified fileserver using
> ZFS/RaidZ.
>
> Rick, if possible could you tell us what the status is of target mode?
> Will that be in Sol10U2?
>
> Thanks,
> David
>
> > On Wed, Mar 22, 2006 at 08:29:25PM -0800, Joe Little wrote:
> >> The problem I foresee for the short term on any iSCSI target on
> >> Solaris is the lack of drivers for larger SATA cards. Albeit most
of
> >> them are RAID-capable and that isn''t necessary w/ RAIDZ,
only the
> >> Adaptec 16-port card is currently supported by Solaris. If you
want to
> >> use 3ware, LSI, etc.. you''ll need a Windows, Linux or
other OS iSCSI
> >> target. I''d love to see the Solaris target, but it may be
needlessly
> >> encumbered for commodity storage because of solaris''s
poor driver
> >> support for interesting hardware.
> >
> > It depends on how you define "interesting".  SuperMicro
makes two cards
> > based on the Marvell SATA chipset that are non-RAID.  The DAC-SATA-MV8
> > is an 8-port SATA-I card based on the Marvell 5081 and sells for about
> > $100.  The AOC-SAT2-MV8 is an 8-port SATA-II card based on the Marvell
> > 6081 and sells for about $125.  Both cards are currently supported by
a
> > native Solaris driver.
> >
> > Given that you don''t need RAID support in the card, the 3ware
and LSI
> > cards will typically cost more (a quick check shows them at well above
> > $200) since you''re paying for the SW stack that you
won''t be using.
> >
> > I''ve been using the Marvell controllers for a while and am
very happy
> > with them.  As you can imagine, being a ZFS developer means I also
need
> > machines with a good number of disks that are cheaply attached.
> >
> >
> > --Bill
> > _______________________________________________
> > zfs-discuss mailing list
> > zfs-discuss at opensolaris.org
> > http://mail.opensolaris.org/mailman/listinfo/zfs-discuss
> >
>
>
>

--
Rick McNeal

A good friend will come and bail you out of jail ... but, a true
friend will be sitting next to you saying, "Damn .. that was fun!"