[OpenIndiana-discuss] Opinions on LSI RAID vs. ZFS

[Edward Ned Harvey (openindiana)]

> From: Stefan Müller-Wilken [mailto:stefan.mueller-wilken at acando.de]
> Sent: Wednesday, October 09, 2013 3:34 AM
> 
> ... so just to make sure I got that right: for the T3-1 you'd suggest to dump
> the PCIe HBA and go with the on-board SAS controller - even for production
> use? And for the DL380, where this is no option, place each drive in a single
> drive logical volum? And then, in both cases, build RAIDZ pools on top of
> that? Anyone a clue why our local Oracle dealer's tech support didn't even
> mention this option?

I think there's really only one answer for you:  You have to understand the limitations of each option, and make up your own mind based on what you care about.

You should definitely find a solution that handles the raid in ZFS instead of in hardware.  Due to data integrity capabilities of ZFS.

If you are forced to use a single volume raid-1 or raid-0 in hardware, be aware that your disks are likely not portable to another system, unless the other system has the same type of HBA.  For this reason, if your HBA supports JBOD, then JBOD is preferred.

With or without HBA, consider the hotplug capabilities of your system, and the red blinking light capabilities.