Hi guys. Before anything, this is my server:-

Core i5 (2011 model)
4 GB RAM
120 GB SSD
2 X 4TB HDD

I used to have this with CentOS 7 and RAID 1 for both the 4TB. With about 1TB media in the raid. And plex running.

Now I am with Ubuntu and I want to ZFS instead of RAID 1. So, is it possible for my setup? should I get more hard drives? Will my data take more space under ZFS than it used to be with RAID 1? And what happens with one drive if it goes bad?

Please advice me. I have some what read about ZFS as it is the future and much better than RAID. But still I am not sure with my current setup.

Thanks,

Are you using the 2 disks for redundancy? Do you expect it to still boot when 1 drive is dead? If the 1st drive dies will your BIOS automatically go to the 2nd drive? Have you installed a bootloader on both drives?

I can't say what is better but it you wish to learn this and use it, it will work.

ZFS has many features. I'd think it likely to take up a bit more space to a lot of space if you don't manage it correctly.

It has raid levels.

It has an ability to somewhat predict failure and ways to mitigate loss.

Only you can decide if it is right for your use.

You'll want to have a look at this site / page https://github.com/zfsonlinux/zfs/wiki/RHEL-and-CentOS

I didnt mention this before. But I am using 120 GB for the OS. The other 2 drives where previously in raid 1 (using the mootherbaord feature and I tired it in mdadm).

I want to use both these drives again as the RAID 1 idea but in ZFS with mirroring.

Any ideas?

You may not need raid under zfs. You can create a zraid if you wish.

You need to set up a test computer or re-do what you have and play with it to see if it fits what you want.

ZFS has a number of advanced features. Read up on them and decide if it will help you.

Last I looked zraid required more than 2 drives. Seems to be adding a lot of uncertainty and complexity for very little gain.
I looked at zfs early on, but the licensing issues were problematic, and the early ports were pretty crude, so I avoided it on Linux. There are suggestions people are simply "looking the other way" when licensing is mentioned these days, but I no longer bother.

zpool create tank mirror c4t5d0 c4t6d0 example should work.
http://www.zfsbuild.com/2010/06/03/h...ed-vdev-zpool/


A raid10 equ will require more drives.

It is possible to use the sata controller's hardware raid but that usually isn't recommended in ZFS.