Current FreeBSD versions will allow you to create a zroot zpool from which you can boot. However, when I created the main zpool for slocum (on Fri May 3 2:16 2013), that option did not exist. You might ask: how do I know that date? [dan@slocum:~] $ zfs get creation system NAME PROPERTY VALUE SOURCE system creation Fri May 3 2:16 2013 – At present, the system boots from a raidz2 zpool. This […]
Adding a zroot pool to an existing system Read More »
This post has been replaced by a newer post. This is the previous post for this system configuration. For future reference, this is the knew server … oh wait, I think it’s this server which is was mounted in the 3U chassis mentioned in this post (perviously erroneously referred to as a 4U). It runs a few jails, including Bacula regression testing services. It is now mounted in a SuperChassis 846E16-R1200B This recent
This server, knew has had an intermittent problem related to CAM status: SCSI Status Error messages. There is a FreeBSD Forums post about it. On Sunday, the problem returned, and this time it degraded the zpool. I collected the information in this gist and I will list the relevant portions below. I had enabled smartd testing and I received this email late on Sunday: Despite the promise of more information in the logs,
zpool: FAULTED – too many errors Read More »
NOTE: I am not convinced of the value of doing these tests on a regular basis. smartd and smartctl are two utility programs included with the smartmontools package. On FreeBSD, smartmontools is installed via the sysutils/smartmontools port. Those programs can “control and monitor storage systems using the Self-Monitoring, Analysis and Reporting Technology System (SMART) built into most modern ATA/SATA, SCSI/SAS and NVMe disks. In many cases, these utilities will provide advanced warning of
using smartd to automatically run tests on your drives Read More »
For future reference, this is the knew server … oh wait, I think it’s this server which is mounted in the 4U chassis mentioned in this post. It runs a few jails, including Bacula regression testing services. This recent post outlines the modifications so it boots off a mirror of SSDs. File systems Paritions zpools /var/run/dmesg.boot
I recently installed 6 SSDs into an R710. In this post, I will describe what I did to the empty SSDs before I started using them. short test I ran a short test on each one of the drives. I already had smartctl. $ sudo smartctl -t short /dev/da0 smartctl 6.6 2017-11-05 r4594 [FreeBSD 11.1-RELEASE-p1 amd64] (local build) Copyright (C) 2002-17, Bruce Allen, Christian Franke, www.smartmontools.org === START OF OFFLINE IMMEDIATE AND SELF-TEST
R710 – getting the drives ready Read More »
If you’ve read even a little of what I’ve written, the following points will not come as a surprise: I like FreeBSD I’m a fan of backups I use Bacula I like ZFS I have tape libraries In this post, I will cover all of the above and more. Photos will be included. New gear Full disclosure: the following links contain my Amazon referrer code. On the left is the ICY DOCK 2.5″
Converting a Dell R710 into a ZFS-based FreeBSD 11.1 tape library bacula-sd Read More »
I’ve been having boot issues with a server containing 20 HDD, all behind HBAs. I have decided to start booting off SSDs. In that previous blog post, there was much speculation about where to mount the new drives, etc. In the meantime, I came up with a solution which did not involve magnets and used a pair of INTEL 730 SSDs I had in another chassis. Let’s start with how I configured those
Moving boot from one zpool to another Read More »
For future reference, this is the knew server. It runs a few jails, including Bacula regression testing services. This recent post outlines the modifications so it boots off a mirror of SSDs. File systems Paritions zpools /var/run/dmesg.boot
Please also see Moving boot from one zpool to another and Adding a zroot pool to an existing system. On my 20x HDD system at home (also known as knew), I am having a recurring problem with booting. This is also the same system mentioned in my FreeBSD Forums thread about some CAM errors. Side note: I now think those CAM errors may be temperature related. EDIT: 2018-12-29: They were not temperature related.
Moving from zroot from one zpool to another Read More »