I have been using zfs and doing some experimentation. I have hit an issue or two that bear thinking about.
- First, the whole Finder/zfs interaction. Since both a zpool and a created sub-pool under a pool appear to Mac OS and the Finder as separate mount points, any attempt to move a file from one to the other results in a copy - not a move.
For example assume a zpool named "tank" with a subpool (created via zfs command) named "subtank". Subtank and tank both mount as /Volumes/ mounts and appear to the Finder as separate volumes. Indeed a drag and drop or use of Terminal and a mv command result in duplication of data (even the data is still on the same pool). Thus a command of "mv xxx subtank/xxx results in a copy - not a move even when done with tank as the current directory - and since subtank appears as a sub-directory this makes things very difficult when trying to simply move a file within a pool.
- Watch out for USB drives ! I will repeat it - watch out for USB drives. Many USB enclosures may report the write done before it really is. This can cause a lot of issues when a crash (or a dog hitting the drive cable) happen at an inopportune time.
- I am a bit worried about the status of Zevo and zfs in general on Macs ... Oracle and Apple are not on the best of terms and no one knows when Larry will pitch his next fit. I hope GreenBytes has some solid legal advice on the IP in zfs before they get too far down the road. I would also hope GreenBytes doesn't simply see Zevo as a way to sell more of their product.
- How about some futures info or a roadmap. Unless I can put a pin in the map I am reluctant to commit time and effort to implementing a large MySQL farm. I know where Ubuntu/zfs is and where it is going .. how about Zevo?
-- Now for the good stuff.
- A zfs drive can be moved from Zevo to a current kernel level zfs Linux implementation and back - no problems. DOn't even try to use the Linux FuSE implementation - its way backlevel.
- MySQL seems to run ok on Zevo - not great but ok. I haven't looked at failure scenarios yet. The memory usage is an issue - I had to up my mini from 4 GB to 8 GB.
- Zevo works fine on Firewire 400