From owner-freebsd-fs@FreeBSD.ORG Wed Oct 2 17:35:39 2013 Return-Path: Delivered-To: freebsd-fs@freebsd.org Received: from mx1.freebsd.org (mx1.freebsd.org [IPv6:2001:1900:2254:206a::19:1]) (using TLSv1 with cipher ADH-AES256-SHA (256/256 bits)) (No client certificate requested) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 1261B3CF for ; Wed, 2 Oct 2013 17:35:39 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from fjwcash@gmail.com) Received: from mail-qe0-x230.google.com (mail-qe0-x230.google.com [IPv6:2607:f8b0:400d:c02::230]) (using TLSv1 with cipher ECDHE-RSA-RC4-SHA (128/128 bits)) (No client certificate requested) by mx1.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTPS id C8A722B61 for ; Wed, 2 Oct 2013 17:35:38 +0000 (UTC) Received: by mail-qe0-f48.google.com with SMTP id nd7so824514qeb.35 for ; Wed, 02 Oct 2013 10:35:38 -0700 (PDT) DKIM-Signature: v=1; a=rsa-sha256; c=relaxed/relaxed; d=gmail.com; s=20120113; h=mime-version:in-reply-to:references:date:message-id:subject:from:to :cc:content-type; bh=u3f+GuL4YHuNBXM8S1deUMEedlPyjWc/TOxsUDgfOPM=; b=VcjsFJqWPoiumMQBhALV4jHcqLKkC7ClRxn6+a9D/iBsamBrzaDZ/aOEzrMHZQlha4 qVQqEoQGbpZEYpH4pJIvG1nIQQC3TkN33bQ1yhKXzOXC3hI1mMxxr6YUfK/LOKym42xC zbjSrzYAzwNoqXmz+kZ+m9lvy3gzkjG1PMIQq4M8XwKJHewgHnFgaVqKLLohVhhmEiMT b3AlDo4HR+4/ujtnI/2xKia2U3JbrDW/dtOHPoMyxW+pHUKB7mCZDTSoZE42Obd6mPtZ yUY14vxPgrD2GDxbESkE2730rrdPBK0o+V+cfKmuPCfwZkVqOK8iIu4Sct5SyVA0NInV J1ew== MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Received: by 10.49.131.132 with SMTP id om4mr4485337qeb.2.1380735338001; Wed, 02 Oct 2013 10:35:38 -0700 (PDT) Received: by 10.49.39.33 with HTTP; Wed, 2 Oct 2013 10:35:37 -0700 (PDT) In-Reply-To: <20131002170159.GA6937@potato.growveg.org> References: <20131002170159.GA6937@potato.growveg.org> Date: Wed, 2 Oct 2013 10:35:37 -0700 Message-ID: Subject: Re: newbie zfs query - usb3 or sata? From: Freddie Cash To: John Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable X-Content-Filtered-By: Mailman/MimeDel 2.1.14 Cc: FreeBSD Filesystems X-BeenThere: freebsd-fs@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.14 Precedence: list List-Id: Filesystems List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Wed, 02 Oct 2013 17:35:39 -0000 On Wed, Oct 2, 2013 at 10:01 AM, John wrote= : > Hello freebsd-fs. I have a possible newbie question, and am not sure > if this should go into -hardware: > > I have the situation where I need to add more hard drives but I haven't > got the space in the existing box. So I have two choices - make > a DAS box out of a SATA connection or make one out of a USB3 > connection (using a Highpoint usb3 card with 4 ports and 4 channels). > I'll be ZFS-ing them together on 9.2-R. > > The question is, under zfs which kind of setup will be better? > I can stick 8GB RAM into the machine. I want to get 4x 4Tb drives. > With the 4-port card, one will go into each port. Similarly > with a 4-port SATA. Performance-wise is there much in it, and > will ZFS be able to handle it. The machine is a desktop. > > The other thing I need to know is, should the machine die, can I just pul= l > the card/disks and put it into another freebsd machine, install zfs and > expect the data to still be there? =E2=80=8BIf there's an option to use SATA (even eSATA), then use it. While the theoretical performance of USB3 is good, the CPU load isn't worth it, especially if using 4 separate USB3 port. And, USB has a nasty habit of every now and then messing up a SCSI command or dropping a device off the bus, or otherwise doing "not very nice" things. --=20 Freddie Cash fjwcash@gmail.com