Date: Mon, 27 Aug 2007 15:24:18 -0500 From: Craig Boston <cb@severious.net> To: Simun Mikecin <numisemis@yahoo.com> Cc: freebsd-fs@freebsd.org Subject: Re: zfs: Use wholedisk or not? Message-ID: <20070827202418.GA71789@nowhere> In-Reply-To: <461381.93183.qm@web36609.mail.mud.yahoo.com> References: <461381.93183.qm@web36609.mail.mud.yahoo.com>
next in thread | previous in thread | raw e-mail | index | archive | help
On Mon, Aug 27, 2007 at 05:34:16AM -0700, Simun Mikecin wrote: > Is it safe to create zpool using whole disks instead of partitioning > (making a GPT partition)? It depends on what you mean by "safe". I have a couple of my machines set up that way without problems... > But I'm scared of what would happen if I plug such a disk on some > other machine, that runs some other OS (Windows for example) since > that disk will not have a valid MBR. ...however I haven't exposed the disks to a Windows monster^Wmachine to see if it eats them. > Will it try to restore a valid MBR and destroy a zpool in the process? I can't say with 100% certainty, but I think so long as you answer "no" to the prompt about writing a signature to the disk you'll be okay. > I know that using whole disks gives the benefit that zfs will to try > to enable disk write cache on it. FWIW, FreeBSD, unlike Solaris, always leaves the write cache enabled unless you explicitly turn it off, so there is no difference whether you're using a whole disk or an fdisk/gpt partition. Since device access is handled through GEOM, it may be impossible or at least difficult for ZFS to tell if what you put into the zpool is a physical disk or something else. Craig
Want to link to this message? Use this URL: <https://mail-archive.FreeBSD.org/cgi/mid.cgi?20070827202418.GA71789>