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Date:      Thu, 22 Jul 2010 00:06:00 -0500
From:      Scot Hetzel <swhetzel@gmail.com>
To:        Dan Langille <dan@langille.org>
Cc:        freebsd-stable <freebsd-stable@freebsd.org>
Subject:   Re: Using GTP and glabel for ZFS arrays
Message-ID:  <AANLkTinAtgdKA-XwjKFMDiK0Y99uNlnN_8mxia99jl6E@mail.gmail.com>
In-Reply-To: <4C47B57F.5020309@langille.org>
References:  <4C47B57F.5020309@langille.org>

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On Wed, Jul 21, 2010 at 10:05 PM, Dan Langille <dan@langille.org> wrote:
> I hope my terminology is correct....
>
> I have a ZFS array which uses raw devices. =A0I'd rather it use glabel an=
d
> supply the GEOM devices to ZFS instead. =A0In addition, I'll also partiti=
on
> the HDD to avoid using the entire HDD: leave a little bit of space at the
> start and end.
>
> Why use glabel?
>
> =A0* So ZFS can find and use the correct HDD should the HDD device ever
> =A0 get renumbered for whatever reason. =A0e.g. /dev/da0 becomes /dev/da6
> =A0 when you move it to another controller.
>
> Why use partitions?
>
> =A0* Primarily: two HDD of a given size, say 2TB, do not always provide
> =A0 the same amount of available space. =A0If you use a slightly smaller
> =A0 partition instead of the entire physical HDD, you're much more
> =A0 likely to have a happier experience when it comes time to replace an
> =A0 HDD.
>
> =A0* There seems to be a consensus amongst some that leaving the start an=
d
> =A0 and of your HDD empty. =A0Give the rest to ZFS.
>
> Things I've read that led me to the above reasons:
>
> *
> http://docs.freebsd.org/cgi/getmsg.cgi?fetch=3D399538+0+current/freebsd-s=
table
> *
> http://lists.freebsd.org/pipermail/freebsd-stable/2010-February/055008.ht=
ml
> * http://lists.freebsd.org/pipermail/freebsd-geom/2009-July/003620.html
>
> The plan for this plan, I'm going to play with just two HDD, because that=
's
> what I have available. =A0Let's assume these two HDD are ad0 and ad1. =A0=
I am
> not planning to boot from these HDD; they are for storage only.
>
> First, create a new GUID Partition Table partition scheme on the HDD:
>
> =A0gpart create -s GPT ad0
>
>
> Let's see how much space we have. =A0This output will be used to determin=
e
> SOMEVALUE in the next command.
>
> =A0gpart show
>
>
> Create a new partition within that scheme:
>
> =A0gpart add -b 34 -s SOMEVALUE -t freebsd-zfs ad0
>

Instead of using glabel to label the partition on a GPT disk, use this
command instead:

gpart add -b 34 -s SOMEVALUE -t freebsd-zfs -l disk00 ad0

You will then see a /dev/gpt/disk00.

Then to create the zpool use:

zpool create bigtank gpt/disk00 gpt/disk02 ...

Scot



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