zfs discuss - Jul 2007 - Need a ZFS design template excel-like sheet

Hi,
We''re implementing ZFS on a Sun X4500.  Does anyone know if Sun or
other vendor provide a template excel-like sheet that will help us prepare the
design of ZFS on a server system? Of course we can create one that includes the
Pools File System properties (such as compression;quota;reservation;snapshots
etc... )but using an exisiting tempate that Sun provides is a much better
choice.
Thanks,
Itay.
 
 
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Itay Menahem wrote:
> Hi,
> We''re implementing ZFS on a Sun X4500.  Does anyone know if Sun or
other vendor provide a template excel-like sheet that will help us prepare the
design of ZFS on a server system? Of course we can create one that includes the
Pools File System properties (such as compression;quota;reservation;snapshots
etc... )but using an exisiting tempate that Sun provides is a much better
choice.
I''ve seen a few of these, but they were nothing more than spreadsheets
(even when they weren''t actually spreadsheets... ugh!).

As a best practice, you should use the tools themselves rather than some
other hand-edited document which requires humans to synchronize with reality.
Useful commands are:
	zpool list
	zpool status
	zfs list
	zfs get all

For getting started, you may be used to worrying about disk placements,
controllers, etc.  For the most part, this won''t matter on an X4500. 
See:
	http://blogs.sun.com/relling/entry/zfs_raid_recommendations_space_vs

ZFS can be dynamically adjusted to meet your needs over time with the following
restrictions (currently, RFEs already exist):
	+ top-level vdevs cannot be removed: plan these first
	+ raidz and raidz2 zpools can be expanded by adding a top-level vdev,
	  but you cannot add another column to a raidz and raidz2 vdev.
	+ disks can be replaced with larger disks to increase available space
	  online, but you cannot replace a disk with a smaller disk (where
	  disk == LUN)

So, you will want to plan your top-level vdevs first, based on your application
needs. Since it will be nearly impossible for us to predict your requirements
and the X4500 has thousands of possible permutations, you might want to spend
some time testing before you commit to the final configuration for production.
It should be noted that the X4500 should ship with a reasonable, generic zpool
already created for you to use out of the box.
  -- richard

Hey Richard,
Thanks for your detailed response, it really helped us finding our way.

Me and my staff are quite familiar with the zpool/zfs commands. The thing is
that we wanted a ''zfs & x4500'' workplan document, before
we''ll continue to the next step which is creating the pools/file
systems.  I guess a home-made xls sheet might do the job.

I guess we''ll have to compile the zfs_raid_recommen... page and your
other remarks and create a work-plan for creating the top-level vdevs and the
pools respectively.
BTW, the x4500 was shipped to us today(!) so I guess we''ll just have to
open it and check the preconfigured zpool that you have mentioned.

So thanks for your prompt response and wish us good luck!
-- Itay, Tel-Aviv.
 
 
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