At 09:47 AM 1/4/2012, Joe Koberg wrote: >ZFS is fantastic. A backup strategy feasible under ZFS is a 3-way >mirror, with a rotating member that you pull and take to the vault. ZFS >will "resilver" the out-of-date device by copying only the data needed >to bring it up to date since the last recorded transaction group on the >device. >I have used ZFS for years on my FreeBSD servers, and I have to say that >it's very comforting to snapshot the entire system before doing >something like an OS or database upgrade. I've heard of ZFS previously but know absolutely nothing about=20 it. I'd like to learn more. I have a small Windows Home Server (v1) box with 7TB of active=20 storage. I'm currently using about half of that, perhaps less. I quite like this little box - its made by Acer and has an adequate=20 Intel Atom processor on the motherboard. Underpowered by today's=20 standards, but it seems to work. The box also has an eSata port on=20 the back, along with several USB 2 ports and a 10/100/1000 Ethernet=20 port. Its intended to be a 'Headless' box but an internal connector=20 has VGA video, PS-2 keyboard/mouse and even a TTL-level serial port=20 available. I started making a cable for it but never did finish - I=20 never needed it. Microsoft concatenates all 4 drives into a single data pool using=20 something they call "Drive Extender". However, apparently some=20 random failure somewhere can render the drive pool broken and its=20 supposedly a real pain to fix. Microsoft never did fix the problem and their new Windows Home Server=20 (v2) doesn't include Drive Extender, nor did they ever come up with a=20 replacement. I guess that means that all those hard drives appear=20 just a bunch of drives (I assume). Although I've never been bit by that rare, random Drive Extender=20 failure, the fact that it is a possibility bothers me. I'd at least=20 like to learn of alternatives before I get hit. Assumption: ZFS doesn't run under Windows. I saw FreeBSD mentioned=20 and I'm guessing that it runs on several or all of the Linux variations. Question: as a complete, clueless Linux newbie (I've run Ubuntu=20 several times and played with Puppy Linux a couple of times), what=20 easy method would exist for me to build a system that runs the ZFS=20 file system and gives me an approximate equivalent to Windows Home=20 Server. The ideal situation would be where it could run on the=20 existing hardware that I have (Atom processor with 2GB RAM and 4 Sata drive= s). The other 'sort-of' requirement is that I can run either LogMeIn on=20 it or some other Windows-friendly remote access software. I've heard=20 of TeamViewer but know absolutely nothing about it. I know that I could be starting a lively discussion here - please: no=20 flames. I'm genuinely interested is seeing what alternatives exist=20 for me to use something like ZFS for my home server box. If anyone knows of something that provides similar reliability and=20 the ability to make multiple drives appear as a single drive pool=20 under Windows, I'd really like to hear about it. That's in addition=20 to hearing about the best way to deploy a Home Server kind of box=20 that uses ZFS natively - and is Windows friendly on the client side. Many thanks! dwayne --=20 Dwayne Reid Trinity Electronics Systems Ltd Edmonton, AB, CANADA (780) 489-3199 voice (780) 487-6397 fax www.trinity-electronics.com Custom Electronics Design and Manufacturing --=20 http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive View/change your membership options at http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist .