Software RAID issues (was Re: Suggestions solicited, server bring up)

[Chip Marshall]

On 23-Nov-2009, Alan Johnson <alan at datdec.com> sent:
> Nice! But then what does it look like to the client? Doesn't
> iSCSI appear like a block device that still needs a file system
> on top of it?

Correct. You get a block device that you can put any filesystem
you like on.

> Does the client need ZFS support?

Nope. As I understand it, when you do an iSCSI export of a ZFS
pool, you're getting a block device with the advantages of the
ZFS storage mechanism without any particular filesystem on it.

I could be wrong, of course. I haven't played with that part
of ZFS yet.

On a tangent, I don't really see NFS and iSCSI really being in
the same realm. NFS is more of a NAS/fileserving technology,
useful for shared storage amongst many clients. iSCSI is a SAN
technology, useful for dedicated storage for clients in a central
location, analogous to fibre channel or ATAoE.

-- 
Chip Marshall <chip at 2bithacker.net>
http://weblog.2bithacker.net/          KB1QYW        PGP key ID 43C4819E
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