[OpenIndiana-discuss] zfs and usb drives

[Jay Heyl]

On Wed, May 30, 2012 at 7:14 PM, Bob Friesenhahn <
bfriesen at simple.dallas.tx.us> wrote:

>
> I have been using USB drives in a mirror configuration for quite a few
> years with zfs.  No problems have been encountered due to using zfs. The
> main thing I learned is to always export the pool before unplugging the USB
> cables because the pool won't come back up if the cables are plugged into
> different ports than before.
>

That's excellent information. I'm sure you've saved me some future grief.
Thanks.


>
> I have heard that one should always plug the drives directly into the
> computer rather than into a USB bridge device.


I once had four USB drives connected to Windows via a powered hub. It
worked okay, but there was definitely a performance penalty. Moving files
from one drive to another proceeded at about half the USB speed limit. When
they're each connected directly to a USB port the transfers can go at close
to the USB max.

  -- Jay