Migrating 8.0.4 ZFS pool to brand new hardware, drive need to be certain order?

[redmessengerbag]

Hi All,

I've been googling and looking through various forums and I couldn't find an answer. This will be my first time ever migrating any zfs data pool, so I want to be extra careful.

My question is, once I export the ZFS volume and begin my migration, do I need to reconnect the drives in any particular port/order? or can I just connect the 7 drives in whichever order on the same controller and the import will sort it out?

I currently have:

7 x 2TB drives ZFS2 pool and I want to migrate that to a different hardware. Currently config is Asus M5A97 with 1045t, ESXI 5, FreeNAS is on top of that with a pass-through M1015. 16gb Kingston ECC ram. I've been running this setup for about a 8 months.

Due to power consumption concerns, I'd like to move the pool to a HP N40L I've had sitting around for about a year never used. I plan to move the M1015 into the N40L and run all 7 drives off it, 4 through the already present SAS connector/drive bays and 3 through a separate SAS cable. haven't decided how I will run FreeNAS but probably through a usb stick. (I've figured out how to fit everything in there physically) small, I know, gonna be cutting it close on power too.

 

[Dusan]

My question is, once I export the ZFS volume and begin my migration, do I need to reconnect the drives in any particular port/order? or can I just connect the 7 drives in whichever order on the same controller and the import will sort it out?

Any order is OK. Every ZFS drive contains an vdev label that describes the entire pool (including all the other vdevs that belong to the pool). zpool import scans all drives in the system, reads the labels and figures out the pool configuration automatically.

 

[gpsguy]

btw, 8.0.4 is a bit long in the tooth. You might want to upgrade to 8.3.2 or 9.1.1

 

[redmessengerbag]

Yes I plan to go up to 8.3.2, but not planning to go up to 9.1.1, seems more resource intensive. I will only have 8gb of ram and and the Turion N40L trying to push data.