Please explain ZFS mirroring

[portreathbeach]

If I had a NAS4Free system with 2 drives set up in ZFS mirrored format, is the data on the drive only readable while in the NAS? What I'm trying to say is that if I were to swap out a drive every month so as to have a backup to store away from the house, would the data be readable with another computer by simply plugging it into a SATA port on the computer?

Is this technique a good way to create a backup, or is there a better way?

[b0ssman]

see

viewtopic.php?f=70&t=2197

backup script

[portreathbeach]

Thanks for the link.

Please can you tell me if the scripts can be run via the web browser in the NAS4Free system and also if the backup drive created with 'backupData.sh' would be readable when plugging it into another computer.

Thanks again

[b0ssman]

with that you will need to use to command line to set everything up.

it is advisable to get familiar with the command line.

[portreathbeach]

I will be researching into the command line, but I want to know if scripts written in the command line can be run via the web browser within the NAS? I don't want to have to plug in a keyboard and monitor every time I want to do a backup.

[b0ssman]

thats what ssh ist for.

its a network shell access.

[portreathbeach]

Thanks

[kenZ71]

The web GUI has an interface for editing files, available under advanced from the main menu.

Putty is a great tool for running / accessing systems like nas4free via ash. You can find putty via Google easily.

[portreathbeach]

PuTTy is for Windows. Is there anything similar for OSX? Also, if I want to add a script to the embedded drive, and run it via one of my macs, is this easy to do. Sorry for all the questions, I only have experience programming in VB and Objective C 2.0 (iPhone development), I don't know much at all to do with ssh. Are there any good threads to look at to give me some more knowledge?

Also, If I use a backup script to backup a 2tb ZFS mirrored system, would the backup drive be able to be plugged into any computer and the data read from it?

[b0ssman]

ssh is already installed on osx

[portreathbeach]

Thanks bOssman, I'll do a bit more research into ssh.

Please could you tell me if a backup copy of the ZFS mirrored system could be read by another computer by simply plugging it in.


edit: If for example my NAS4Free server was called Server and I went into Terminal in OSX and type ssh Server, would I then be 'in' the terminal of the NAS4Free server? Would this what would allow me to run scripts? Again, sorry for all of the questions, I'm new to ssh, but do have an understanding of several programming languages

[b0ssman]

well yes if the os is compatible with the zfs version used.

[portreathbeach]

Thanks.

I'm currently experimenting with NAS4Free using a liveCD booting on my macBook Pro and installing on a USB just to get a feel for the software. I'm obviously not setting up any drives as I don't want to ruin my OS on the macBook Pro. I've managed to get the NAS4Free server running and can view the NAS4Free webbrowser from my iMac. I guess I need to bite the bullet and buy some hardware and setup a proper system to experiment further. My QNAP TS209 II is 5 years old and the access and copying time is pretty bad seeing as it is connected via a gigabit network.

I appreciate all the help so far, just need to get a good understanding of how it will all work when I eventually retire the QNAP.

I'm still a bit dubious of ZFS as my current NAS uses RAID1 which I am very familiar with. All this talk of zpool etc. makes everything seem very complicated.

[kenZ71]

While shopping for hardware I would highly recommend a 64Bit chipset on a mother board with at least 4 SATA connectors & 4 memory slots. I personally find searching ebay for off lease servers the easiest / most cost effective.

Yes, the zpool tech speak can be confusing at first but once you get into it its quite simple and robust at the same time if that is possible.

[portreathbeach]

I was looking at the Gigabyte E-350 for the motherboard and a CFI A7879 Mini-ITX NAS/Server Case http://linitx.com/product/cfi-a7879-min ... bays/12789

Any thoughts?

[b0ssman]

here is a very nice nas case

http://www.kustompcs.co.uk/acatalog/info_0790.html

and this should make an excellent nas board. (once nas4free 9.2 is release because of the nic)

http://www.asrock.com/server/overview.a ... l=C2750D4I