zfs discuss - Nov 2007 - Slightly Off-Topic: Decent replication on Solaris using rNFS.

Hi,

In my infinite search for a reliable work-around for the lack of bandwidth in
the United States*, I''ve reached the conclusion that I need a
file-system replication solution for the data stored on my ZFS partition.
I''ve noticed that I''m not the only one asking for this, but I
still have no clear answer on my options from Google.
After looking into some reports on rNFS on citi.umich.edu, I found out that
I''m not the only one with the problem (go figure). I am not really up
to date with the NFSv4 spec and drafts, but I am curious if rNFS is part of the
current NFSv4 spec or of the upcoming 4.1, and if it''s considered or
available for OpenSolaris, or if there are any alternatives (such as a
replicated ZFS solution that supports simultaneous r/w access on at least 2
geographically separate servers).
Some might argue that QFS + Sun Cluster is the way to go, but I need a few
things that ZFS currently offers (NFSv4 ACLs and snapshots that Samba can be
made aware of), and will want to move to CIFS server as soon as it''s
production quality.
Generally, the write traffic on the Samba shares that need replication is light
(around 1GByte/day), but it does need to happen whenever there''s a
change.
I''ve tried creating a smart cron script that runs unison every minute
(lame, I know), but it does not replicate the NFSv4 ACLs, and it''s a
rather bad approach to the problem to start with. A daemonized unison with
support for all the ZFS features that gets the file-change notifications from
the kernel along with a distributed lock manager might do the job, but
it''s something that I''m not qualified to write.
I am sure that what I''m looking for is not unheard of. I am hopeful
that the ZFS+Lustre integration in the future might allow me something like
this, but it doesn''t sound like it''s close.

Any sugestions?!?
Cheers,
Razvan

* Our Bucharest branch has access to 10 Mbits/sec internationally and 100
Mbits/sec nationally (fiber of course) with BGP and our own IP classes, for
around EUR 250. This is in contrast with our San Jose, CA branch, which has a
connectivity budget of $700 and can get only a bonded-T1 at best in that money
(a T1 is $500 ($399 + taxes)). I wish that the most economically advanced
country in the world could have a decent internet infrastructure.
 
 
This message posted from opensolaris.org

Razvan Corneliu VILT wrote:
> Hi,
>
> In my infinite search for a reliable work-around for the lack of bandwidth
in the United States*, I''ve reached the conclusion that I need a
file-system replication solution for the data stored on my ZFS partition.
> I''ve noticed that I''m not the only one asking for this,
but I still have no clear answer on my options from Google.
> After looking into some reports on rNFS on citi.umich.edu, I found out that
I''m not the only one with the problem (go figure). I am not really up
to date with the NFSv4 spec and drafts, but I am curious if rNFS is part of the
current NFSv4 spec or of the upcoming 4.1, and if it''s considered or
available for OpenSolaris, or if there are any alternatives (such as a
replicated ZFS solution that supports simultaneous r/w access on at least 2
geographically separate servers).
> Some might argue that QFS + Sun Cluster is the way to go, but I need a few
things that ZFS currently offers (NFSv4 ACLs and snapshots that Samba can be
made aware of), and will want to move to CIFS server as soon as it''s
production quality.
> Generally, the write traffic on the Samba shares that need replication is
light (around 1GByte/day), but it does need to happen whenever there''s
a change.
> I''ve tried creating a smart cron script that runs unison every
minute (lame, I know), but it does not replicate the NFSv4 ACLs, and
it''s a rather bad approach to the problem to start with. A daemonized
unison with support for all the ZFS features that gets the file-change
notifications from the kernel along with a distributed lock manager might do the
job, but it''s something that I''m not qualified to write.
> I am sure that what I''m looking for is not unheard of. I am
hopeful that the ZFS+Lustre integration in the future might allow me something
like this, but it doesn''t sound like it''s close.
>
> Any sugestions?!?
>   
AVS.  See http://www.opensolaris.org/os/project/avs/
Jim Dunham has a good blog and demo on using it with ZFS.
 -- richard
> Cheers,
> Razvan
>
> * Our Bucharest branch has access to 10 Mbits/sec internationally and 100
Mbits/sec nationally (fiber of course) with BGP and our own IP classes, for
around EUR 250. This is in contrast with our San Jose, CA branch, which has a
connectivity budget of $700 and can get only a bonded-T1 at best in that money
(a T1 is $500 ($399 + taxes)). I wish that the most economically advanced
country in the world could have a decent internet infrastructure.
>  
>  
> This message posted from opensolaris.org
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>