Out of Swap

[zybeon]

I apparently have no swap after I tried to install my 5th jail. Server crashed with an error out of swap. Failed installing SickBeard.pbi

swapinfo shows no swap space.

I recently switched back to FreeNAS from Ubuntu when I saw that Plex finally made it to FreeBSD. My zpool was created in ZFS for Ubuntu.

System specs:
Intel SS4200
Intel Core2Duo E4700@2.6Ghz
2GB RAM(max supported)
4GB usb(OS)
4x500GB(RAIDZ1)

Is it possible to add swap space?

Edit: Running FreeNAS 9.1.1

 

[warri]

First of all, running with only 2 GB RAM on ZFS is considered insecure for your data - you might loose data due to a kernel panic.

If the whole harddrives are occupied by the ZFS partitions, I'm afraid there is no easy way to add swap without recreating the pool. FreeNAS usually creates a 2Gb Swap partition on each drive for you. Alternatively you could add another harddisk and use it as swap device.

 

[fracai]

You could also create a swap dataset. I'm not sure how freenas handles that, but it seems to be well recommended on freebsd.

 

[zybeon]

I haven't heard of such a high requirement of ram for using FreeNAS. Neither did I ever have a problem with data retention the 2 years I have been using my system. The only time I have heard of a more strict RAM recommendations is when you have dedup on. I don't use dedup or encryption.

Does the FreeNAS kernel have the md memory driver? I have looked at how to add swap to FreeBSD but I am unsure if I am able to.

I followed the steps here to make a swap file on the zpool but still no change to my "swapinfo" output.

 

[zybeon]

Well just tried installing sickbeard again and it worked without taking down my server. Still no swap after editing /etc/rc.conf with swapfile=""

I would still like to add swap though so I don't have any problems in the future.

 

[titan_rw]

With zfs and 2gb of ram though, you very likely will have a problem in the future. Even with swap. Such little ram can cause crashes leading to an un-mountable pool.

It's your data though.

 

[zybeon]

My write speeds are averaging 85MB/s with 5 year old 500GB drives. I have about 250MB free ram right now while idle, so I do see your point.

So no way to add swap?

 

[warri]

The swap dataset fracai suggested might be worth a try.

 

[zybeon]

You could also create a swap dataset. I'm not sure how freenas handles that, but it seems to be well recommended on freebsd.

Thanks, added 8gb of swap in the mean time.

 

[cyberjock]

You do know that the swap space is meant as a "hail mary". If you are having to use swap space you need more RAM. Not tomorrow, not next week, now. Choosing to add more swap space is, in my opinion, very ill advised(some may even say stupid). If a system is having to rely on swap space you should already have more RAM on order.

There's a bunch of implications to choosing to rely on swap space, but I don't have the time to explain it all right now. But yeah, what you are doing, if you value your data, is not wise in the slightest bit.

 

[zybeon]

You do know that the swap space is meant as a "hail mary". If you are having to use swap space you need more RAM. Not tomorrow, not next week, now. Choosing to add more swap space is, in my opinion, very ill advised(some may even say stupid). If a system is having to rely on swap space you should already have more RAM on order.

There's a bunch of implications to choosing to rely on swap space, but I don't have the time to explain it all right now. But yeah, what you are doing, if you value your data, is not wise in the slightest bit.

Adding more ram is impossible for this server as the most the chipset can support is 2gb. I would if I could but I can't, as I did describe in my first post. Also want to point out that I had Zero swap space. I didn't run out of it, I simply didn't have any. As was also explained earlier.

 

[cyberjock]

Adding more ram is impossible for this server as the most the chipset can support is 2gb. I would if I could but I can't, as I did describe in my first post.

I know this. That doesn't negate the risk that you can have a single kernel panic and end up like alot of other people. You reboot your server and you never see your pool again. I sure hope you have backups, because for many the issue came with no warning.

Also want to point out that I had Zero swap space. I didn't run out of it, I simply didn't have any. As was also explained earlier.

I know this. And swap space isn't a good substitute for RAM either. Plenty of people have had low RAM systems, still had swap space and a single kernel panic due to insufficient RAM kissed their data goodbye.

And statistically, if you are like most people on this forum, you have no backup and you can't use standard recovery tools to pull your data off the pool. Your data is just gone..forever.

I just had to /facepalm when I saw this thread start because you are breaking many rules for using ZFS, and somehow think that swap is going to help, and have now gone to what is a less than expected design for FreeNAS. So I'll just say what I said before... I sure hope you have backups.

 

[zybeon]

The pool is only 1.35tb I do have backups. Are you always this patronizing?
Apparently I have been gone from FreeNAS too long. The requirements jumped through the roof. Guess I should be using NAS4Free on this box.