Solaris 11: Join AD Domain for Samba
Configure Kerberos Make a backup of our original, just in case. # cp /etc/krb5/krb5.conf /etc/krb5/krb5.original.conf These sections already exist in the file so you will want to replace them with the...
View ArticleSo You Want to Learn ZFS Part One
Enterprise Storage is currently broken. IT departments big and small spend way too much money on completely ineffective storage solutions which only partially fulfil the companies storage need. All...
View ArticleSo You Want to Learn ZFS Part Two
In my previous article we discussed the main reasons that you ought to be investigating ZFS as a storage platform for your organization. In this article we will be documenting some of the major pain...
View ArticleSo You Want to Learn ZFS Part Three
This is the final part in the “So You Want to Learn ZFS” series. In Part One we discussed the reasons why you should be investigating ZFS if you are not already. Part Two highlighted some of the...
View ArticleZFS: Snapshot Management
So snapshots are basically a point in time view of everything which exists on a file system at a given point in time. They allow you to build complex data protection schemes which can allow you to...
View ArticleZFS: Clone Management
In our previous article “ZFS: Snapshot Management” we learned about the many methods of using snapshots to give you a shorter path to recovery as well as reduce the time needed to revert changes that...
View ArticleZFS: Delegate ZFS Permissions
It is widely accepted as best practice to not use your root account in general. In Solaris they like some Linux distributions have gone so far as to prevent root access to SSH. Now we could go the...
View ArticleAdventures in ZFS: Faulted Cache Devices
We recently had an issue with Crucial M4 Solid State Disks when using them with ZFS on Solaris 11 Express (snv_151a). Basically the disks were showing a whole bunch of write errors and had been...
View ArticleAdventures in ZFS: Timestamps Ruined My Rsync
So let me start out by saying… This isn’t so much of a problem with ZFS, as it is just a problem with the tools available in Solaris (not to mention whatever device actually screwed up the timestamp...
View ArticleAdventures in ZFS: Configuring Fibre Channel Targets
In our environment ZFS has become a critical component of our Storage Infrastructure. We have been able to provision Fibre Channel storage from our ZFS file systems which give us the benefit of data...
View ArticleAdventures in ZFS: Time Slider is not Expiring Snapshots on Imported Zpools
A few days ago someone contacted me with an interesting issue with regards to the ZFS automatic snapshots, facilitatedby the time slider service. The Situation OpenSolaris machine with zpool exported....
View ArticleAdventures in ZFS: Crucial M4 Firmware SMART Issue
Let me preface this article by stating that this issue is NOT a ZFS issue or a Solaris issue. Previously I documented a issue in which the Crucial M4 SSD would “hesitate” causing ZFS to see it as...
View ArticleAdventures in ZFS: Storage Sizing
One of the most complex parts of storage in general and ZFS in particular is correctly assessing the amount and types of storage that you will need to meet your requirements. You can of course just...
View ArticleAdventures in ZFS: Configuring iSCSI Targets
The most critical thing about any storage implementation is flexibility. This means that you need to be able to adapt your solution to changing environmental considerations. The nice thing about a...
View ArticleAdventures in ZFS: NexentaStor with Dell Poweredge R515 Onboard Broadcom NIC
So recently I dealt with a rather aggravating problem. Basically I had a couple of Poweredge R515’s to be built with NexentaStor Enterprise, which would not get a valid network configuration. The...
View ArticleAdventures in ZFS: Deletion of a Recursive Snapshot Set
Quite often I will find it necessary to create a recursive snapshot over a large number of ZFS file systems. In this case, I find that frequently have little long term need for them, and need a quick...
View ArticleAdventures in ZFS: NFS Exports on Solaris 10 and 11
So with ZFS you really have two ways of configuring your NFS exports, you can do it the old fashioned way (read: /etc/dfs/dfstab and share command). Or the super-duper easy method… Use ZFS metadata,...
View ArticleAdventures in ZFS: Solaris 11.1 Share Properties
In Solaris 11.1 Oracle decided to change the way that they stored filesystem share information. I personally loved the change, but that was without understanding what the change really was. For more...
View ArticleZFS: Send and Receive
ZFS gives us the ability to move data with ZFS send and receive. This can be used to combine snapshots, create full or incremental backups, or replicate data between servers on your LAN or even over...
View ArticleAdventures in ZFS: Rename a Zpool
Renaming a zpool is not as intuitive as I would expect, but it is still pretty simple. We accomplish this through a three step process, export the zpool, import the zpool (using a new name), validate...
View ArticleAdventures in ZFS: Destroy A Zpool Without Importing
Recently I ran into an issue where I had a zpool that wasn’t imported in a system, and I was unable to import it due to zpool version incompatibilities. This can happen if you are going to a older...
View ArticleAdventures in ZFS: Splitting a Zpool
Today we are going to go through the process of splitting a zpool. This is not something that you will do often, but when you do it, you must be very precise and do it properly. Create Our Test Zpool...
View ArticleAdventures in ZFS: Mirrored Rpool
It always makes sense to have a mirrored rpool for your production systems, however that is not always how they are configured. This really simple procedure is also critical. Create a Mirrored Zpool...
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