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Date:      Sun, 27 Oct 2013 17:57:17 -0700
From:      aurfalien <aurfalien@gmail.com>
To:        C. P. Ghost <cpghost@cordula.ws>
Cc:        FreeBSD Mailing List <freebsd-questions@freebsd.org>
Subject:   Re: FreeNAS vs. FreeBSD?
Message-ID:  <B76069ED-B32D-41F8-8A87-CD3BE6E3771B@gmail.com>
In-Reply-To: <CADGWnjU%2BKcnfsv4janV0RDGehZbNJoh2TaNso_S=yRuOYuGVhQ@mail.gmail.com>
References:  <CADGWnjVX7hHDkHDPVwrZOJGY%2B3BC5mLEq-AdqY4RGYR75qm=eg@mail.gmail.com> <44326394-E318-41B2-B85D-EA17E50B9230@gmail.com> <CADGWnjU%2BKcnfsv4janV0RDGehZbNJoh2TaNso_S=yRuOYuGVhQ@mail.gmail.com>

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One last thing I forgot to mention is ashift.

FreeNAS auto partitions to allow an ashift of 12.

This was key for me due to my drives (Seagate ES.2) are 4K but report =
back as 512 byte.

So in FreeBSD my vdevs had an ashift of 9.  In FreeNAS the partitions =
were such that my vdevs were 12.

Now in FreeBSD one can use the gnop hack to get 12, or simply partition =
in such a way like starting the partition on 1M block which will allow =
12 as well.

No one auto 12's your vdevs other then FreeNAS since its partitioning =
for you.  In ZoL, Solaris, FreeBSD, one must consciously force the 12.  =
I'll bet Nexenta also defaults to 9 and will check this week.

- aurf


On Oct 27, 2013, at 10:25 AM, C. P. Ghost wrote:

> On Sun, Oct 27, 2013 at 5:13 PM, aurfalien <aurfalien@gmail.com> =
wrote:
> I've tested with and w/o swap on a ZFS data set and have seen no =
degradation in ZFS performance.
>=20
> That's interesting. Are you using a box with AES-NI instructions or =
just
> plain ZFS (without encryption)?
>=20
> That's one of the reasons I'm still undecided. With FreeBSD, I could =
set up
> swap on a dedicated slice/mirror without going through ZFS/GELI; which
> is important on older CPUs that don't have AES-NI instructions. I'm =
quite
> afraid of the performance hit if swap is on ZFS/GELI.
>=20
> Any changes made can be backed up to a file and restored on a fresh =
install etc... which is simply either the ability to resort to defaults =
and reboot or a fresh USB key.
>=20
> That's a very useful feature indeed. I just booted a server with a USB
> key containing the FreeNAS image, and it works like a charm. Maybe
> something similar would be possible with plain vanilla FreeBSD; will
> have to investigate.
> =20
> So its more then just a GUI.
>=20
> Indeed.
> =20
> However they do not have a well defined or a defined for that matter, =
roadmap.
>=20
> Yup, that's the other concern I have with FreeNAS.
>=20
> The most important question would be: would FreeNAS ZFS/GELI volumes
> be importable into a regular FreeBSD system, should I decide to switch =
back
> to FreeBSD (e.g. if FreeNAS ceases to be supported/updated sometimes)?
> I suppose yes, provided the keys are properly backed up, but without =
testing,
> I wouldn't bet the farm on it.
> =20
> Thanks,
> -cpghost.
>=20
> --=20
> Cordula's Web. http://www.cordula.ws/
>=20




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