ZFS Dual disk
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Hey guys, just bought a 120gb SSD for my PFsense computer. I have the 120gb hard drive in there as well. I just switched from UFS to ZFS when i switched to SSD. Is there any point in using that 2nd hard drive in there to have some sort of redundancy or pool? or should i just unplug it.
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You can do a mirror between them if you like, but it would be a bit slower with one being SSD and one being a spinning disk. Probably not a noticeable speed difference from a firewall perspective.
It's all up to you and whether or not you want the redundancy and want the extra power consumption/wear from keeping the other disk spinning 24/7. Not that it's much, but still a small factor to consider.
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thanks Jimp.. i will give it some thought. Couldn't i just install pfsense on the HD then unplug it? then use the SSD as i normally do? if SSD dies, i could just plug back in the HD and be back up and running until a new SSD got delivered?
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In theory, yes, but in practice as the firewall gets updated, packages get updated, configurations change, etc, it's difficult to keep the other disk ready as a cold spare. You're better off keeping regular backups and reinstalling + restoring if needed.
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thanks for your advice Jimp. are there some documents i can look over on how to do the zfs mirror? i couldn't find anything specific. There were a few options in the install and i wasn't sure what to pick.
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In the installer you can pick mirror for the zfs pool type and then pick both disks from the list.
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thanks man. I hope there is an option to choose what drive is main and what is the redundant.
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It's a full N-way mirror. There is no "main" and "redundant" they are identical and used identically.
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sounds good, thanks buddy.
