Transmission plug-in - best practise with incomplete downloads?

[unca_NAS]

While tweaking my scrub settings I found the following post on another forum:

I have a separate drive for torrents still downloading and move the files to the main pool once finished.. The first option is still the better one as the main pool does not get fragmented in the first place.

link

If pool fragmentation really is an issue, whats the best way to set this up? (I have an unused HD-slot in my box that can be utilized here)

a) set the jail running vpn+transmission in the new, single disk. Mount only the "watch-" and the "finished"-folders to the main pool ... or..
b) use a folder in single HD to be used as an "incomplete downloads"-folder and mount it to the current jail in main pool.

Propably a stupid question, but pls bear with me. Because Monday :coffee:

 

[Joshua Parker Ruehlig]

hmm never thought about the fragmentation issue. I guess it makes sense files from transmission are fragmented because they are written over a longer period of time.

like you said, you could just mount a second folder into your jail from a different zpool/dataset. it doesn't matter if you are moving it to a different set of disk(s) cause either way zfs is rewriting the file, but writing it to a new spool would be faster cause it wouldn't need to read+write on the same set of spindles.

other considerations is that copy-on-write file systems avoids fragmentation more with emptyer disks, and that this isn't an issue with 100% ssd pools. also I have heard people were proposing a "de-fragment" + zpool balancing feature but I don't know how far they got.

 

[unca_NAS]

Thanks for answer :)

I write down steps taken, just in case someone else is planning similar setup - basic stuff really. In my case all the Microservers HD-docks were in use, so only option was to mount a HD-dock and ditch the optical drive.

- connect a HD-dock to the NAS
- insert HD, Freenas GUI.. Storage > View Disk > choose > WIPE.. wipe with zeros > error > reboot > wipe with zeros > success this time (takes quite a while)

From CLI: * = disk-number

Code:

gpart create -s gpt ada*
gpart add -t freebsd-ufs ada* 
newfs /dev/ada*p1 #formatoi

From GUI
- import volume

from CLI:
- create necessary folders, set rights etc

- Transmission: delete storage mount /mnt/tank/incomplete
- create new with /mnt/newhd/_incomplete
- test