FreeNAS 8.0 with ZFS RAID-Z - Single or Dual Core ?

[Lucas Rey]

Hello guys,
I'm searching a good MiniITX ATOM based MoBo for updating my NAS.

My choices are:
GygaByte GA-D525TUD or GA-D425TUD. The difference between these MoBo is only the core Nr. One core for GA-D425TUD and two cores for GA-D525TUD.

My question is simple, is there any real advantage to using a Dual Core CPU in a FreeNAS 8 build with NFS and Samba as active services and 3 HDD with ZFS RAID-Z?
I don't find any documentation or user experience about that!

 

[sjieke]

For Samba it won't make a difference since Samba is single threaded. NFS on the otherhand does make a difference since it is multi-threaded and will use all cores available.

 

[survive]

Hi Lucas Rey,

Given my choice I would get the dual core chip...it shouldn't cost much more (I would bet less than $10) and shouldn't draw more than a few more watts.

If you are open to other suggestions I would strongly advise you to look at the E-350 AMD boards. Those boards support double the RAM (8GB vs. 4GB) and have PCI-e slots instead of PCI.

I would plan on getting at least 4GB of ram (cheapest 8GB was $45 this week at Newegg) since you are running ZFS.

-Will

 

[Lucas Rey]

Thanks both for your feedback.

@sjieke:
I seen you have already the GA-D525TUD, could you please share your experience with the FAN noise? Did you also try to stream FULL HD content via network? (I'll use NFS for that)

@survive:
Thanks also for E-350 AMD boards tips, btw I don't need PCI-e and PCI slot and my plan is install 4 GB on board. I think is enough for FreeNAS and ZFS!
And last but not least, the price is double then Gigabyte MoBo!
However I'll check the E-350 board specification, just to be sure I don't find any usefull specs... CF card could be an interesting thing! ;)

 

[survive]

Lucas Rey,

For what it's worth, 6GB is recommended as a minimum for running ZFS and the Atom has a 4GB max on RAM. Max out the board now so you don't wind up with a couple of 2GB dimms later!

I'd still consider getting an E-350 for the PCI-e slots.

-Will

 

[Tekkie]

@Lucas

ZFS needs memory and lots of it, I would recommend saving money in the wrong place ;) you may regret it later...

 

[ProtoSD]

Lucas, have you considered the Supermico MBD-X7SPA-H-O Intel Atom D510 1.66Ghz Server Motherboard with 6x SATA ports?

It a mini-itx, and it's what I'm using. It has a lot of nice features, and it's LOW power, with 6 drives under load it uses about 60 watts and it's quiet ;-)

 

[Lucas Rey]

@Tekkie:
I think 4GB is enough because I'm assembling a simple NAS for non professional use. My goal is use it @ home as storage for my personal file (using samba) and NFS service to stream movie with DVICO Tvix, that's it.
I have already FreeNAS installed on ATOM D330 (Intel MoBo) and it works fine, but with only 2 SATA ports, that's why I decide to switch to another MoBo with 4 SATA ports.
Actually my only concern is on D525 Power Consumption, compared to D330 is much higher!

@protosd:
Thanks for suggestion, MBD-X7SPA-H-O it's a great MoBo, but it costs about 180€ (I found the Gigabyte MoBo @ 70€). As explained I'll use the NAS @ home, and I don't want spend much money! ;)

 

[sjieke]

@lucas
Here are some test results using NFS as protocol.
To test I used a linux client and did: mount -t nfs 10.10.10.101:/mnt/tank/ /mnt/nas/
Then I used dd to get a feel of the performance.
Note that dd isn't a real benchmark.

Code:

 
joachim@Speedy ~ $ ./benchmarks_remote.sh 

Write 1GB file - Run 1
----------------------
500+0 records in
500+0 records out
1048576000 bytes (1.0 GB) copied, 16.7739 s, 62.5 MB/s

Write 2GB file - Run 1
----------------------
1000+0 records in
1000+0 records out
2097152000 bytes (2.1 GB) copied, 38.2944 s, 54.8 MB/s

Write 5GB file - Run 1
----------------------
2500+0 records in
2500+0 records out
5242880000 bytes (5.2 GB) copied, 124.506 s, 42.1 MB/s

Write 10GB file - Run 1
----------------------
5000+0 records in
5000+0 records out
10485760000 bytes (10 GB) copied, 245.937 s, 42.6 MB/s

Write 20GB file - Run 1
----------------------
10000+0 records in
10000+0 records out
20971520000 bytes (21 GB) copied, 510.08 s, 41.1 MB/s

Write 50GB file - Run 1
----------------------
25000+0 records in
25000+0 records out
52428800000 bytes (52 GB) copied, 1321.86 s, 39.7 MB/s

Read 1GB file - Run 1
----------------------
500+0 records in
500+0 records out
1048576000 bytes (1.0 GB) copied, 15.213 s, 68.9 MB/s

Read 2GB file - Run 1
----------------------
1000+0 records in
1000+0 records out
2097152000 bytes (2.1 GB) copied, 27.6098 s, 76.0 MB/s

Read 5GB file - Run 1
----------------------
2500+0 records in
2500+0 records out
5242880000 bytes (5.2 GB) copied, 67.107 s, 78.1 MB/s

Read 10GB file - Run 1
----------------------
5000+0 records in
5000+0 records out
10485760000 bytes (10 GB) copied, 133.893 s, 78.3 MB/s

Read 20GB file - Run 1
----------------------
10000+0 records in
10000+0 records out
20971520000 bytes (21 GB) copied, 269.682 s, 77.8 MB/s

Read 50GB file - Run 1
----------------------
25000+0 records in
25000+0 records out
52428800000 bytes (52 GB) copied, 649.423 s, 80.7 MB/s

Write 50GB file - Run 2
----------------------
25000+0 records in
25000+0 records out
52428800000 bytes (52 GB) copied, 1385.73 s, 37.8 MB/s

Write 20GB file - Run 2
----------------------
10000+0 records in
10000+0 records out
20971520000 bytes (21 GB) copied, 515.644 s, 40.7 MB/s

Write 10GB file - Run 2
----------------------
5000+0 records in
5000+0 records out
10485760000 bytes (10 GB) copied, 224.545 s, 46.7 MB/s

Write 5GB file - Run 2
----------------------
2500+0 records in
2500+0 records out
5242880000 bytes (5.2 GB) copied, 139.95 s, 37.5 MB/s

Write 2GB file - Run 2
----------------------
1000+0 records in
1000+0 records out
2097152000 bytes (2.1 GB) copied, 41.1245 s, 51.0 MB/s

Write 1GB file - Run 2
----------------------
500+0 records in
500+0 records out
1048576000 bytes (1.0 GB) copied, 32.2367 s, 32.5 MB/s

Read 50GB file - Run 2
----------------------
25000+0 records in
25000+0 records out
52428800000 bytes (52 GB) copied, 670.735 s, 78.2 MB/s

Read 20GB file - Run 2
----------------------
10000+0 records in
10000+0 records out
20971520000 bytes (21 GB) copied, 266.281 s, 78.8 MB/s

Read 10GB file - Run 2
----------------------
5000+0 records in
5000+0 records out
10485760000 bytes (10 GB) copied, 132.879 s, 78.9 MB/s

Read 5GB file - Run 2
----------------------
2500+0 records in
2500+0 records out
5242880000 bytes (5.2 GB) copied, 68.4305 s, 76.6 MB/s

Read 2GB file - Run 2
----------------------
1000+0 records in
1000+0 records out
2097152000 bytes (2.1 GB) copied, 28.429 s, 73.8 MB/s

Read 1GB file - Run 2
----------------------
500+0 records in
500+0 records out
1048576000 bytes (1.0 GB) copied, 15.2013 s, 69.0 MB/s

Write 50GB file - Run 3
----------------------
25000+0 records in
25000+0 records out
52428800000 bytes (52 GB) copied, 1229.8 s, 42.6 MB/s

Write 20GB file - Run 3
----------------------
10000+0 records in
10000+0 records out
20971520000 bytes (21 GB) copied, 478.937 s, 43.8 MB/s

Write 10GB file - Run 3
----------------------
5000+0 records in
5000+0 records out
10485760000 bytes (10 GB) copied, 201.405 s, 52.1 MB/s

Write 5GB file - Run 3
----------------------
2500+0 records in
2500+0 records out
5242880000 bytes (5.2 GB) copied, 93.1611 s, 56.3 MB/s

Write 2GB file - Run 3
----------------------
1000+0 records in
1000+0 records out
2097152000 bytes (2.1 GB) copied, 38.0301 s, 55.1 MB/s

Write 1GB file - Run 3
----------------------
500+0 records in
500+0 records out
1048576000 bytes (1.0 GB) copied, 15.154 s, 69.2 MB/s

Read 50GB file - Run 3
----------------------
25000+0 records in
25000+0 records out
52428800000 bytes (52 GB) copied, 675.733 s, 77.6 MB/s

Read 20GB file - Run 3
----------------------
10000+0 records in
10000+0 records out
20971520000 bytes (21 GB) copied, 265.18 s, 79.1 MB/s

Read 10GB file - Run 3
----------------------
5000+0 records in
5000+0 records out
10485760000 bytes (10 GB) copied, 129.745 s, 80.8 MB/s

Read 5GB file - Run 3
----------------------
2500+0 records in
2500+0 records out
5242880000 bytes (5.2 GB) copied, 67.0144 s, 78.2 MB/s

Read 2GB file - Run 3
----------------------
1000+0 records in
1000+0 records out
2097152000 bytes (2.1 GB) copied, 27.1665 s, 77.2 MB/s

Read 1GB file - Run 3
----------------------
500+0 records in
500+0 records out
1048576000 bytes (1.0 GB) copied, 13.0805 s, 80.2 MB/s

Write 1GB file - Run 4
----------------------
500+0 records in
500+0 records out
1048576000 bytes (1.0 GB) copied, 27.4708 s, 38.2 MB/s

Write 2GB file - Run 4
----------------------
1000+0 records in
1000+0 records out
2097152000 bytes (2.1 GB) copied, 44.5931 s, 47.0 MB/s

Write 5GB file - Run 4
----------------------
2500+0 records in
2500+0 records out
5242880000 bytes (5.2 GB) copied, 91.3532 s, 57.4 MB/s

Write 10GB file - Run 4
----------------------
5000+0 records in
5000+0 records out
10485760000 bytes (10 GB) copied, 205.469 s, 51.0 MB/s

Write 20GB file - Run 4
----------------------
10000+0 records in
10000+0 records out
20971520000 bytes (21 GB) copied, 448.668 s, 46.7 MB/s

Write 50GB file - Run 4
----------------------
25000+0 records in
25000+0 records out
52428800000 bytes (52 GB) copied, 948.794 s, 55.3 MB/s

Read 1GB file - Run 4
----------------------
500+0 records in
500+0 records out
1048576000 bytes (1.0 GB) copied, 13.1894 s, 79.5 MB/s

Read 2GB file - Run 4
----------------------
1000+0 records in
1000+0 records out
2097152000 bytes (2.1 GB) copied, 27.8419 s, 75.3 MB/s

Read 5GB file - Run 4
----------------------
2500+0 records in
2500+0 records out
5242880000 bytes (5.2 GB) copied, 66.9731 s, 78.3 MB/s

Read 10GB file - Run 4
----------------------
5000+0 records in
5000+0 records out
10485760000 bytes (10 GB) copied, 151.254 s, 69.3 MB/s

Read 20GB file - Run 4
----------------------
10000+0 records in
10000+0 records out
20971520000 bytes (21 GB) copied, 264.69 s, 79.2 MB/s

Read 50GB file - Run 4
----------------------
25000+0 records in
25000+0 records out
52428800000 bytes (52 GB) copied, 656.465 s, 79.9 MB/s

Write 50GB file - Run 5
----------------------
25000+0 records in
25000+0 records out
52428800000 bytes (52 GB) copied, 1098.54 s, 47.7 MB/s

Write 20GB file - Run 5
----------------------
10000+0 records in
10000+0 records out
20971520000 bytes (21 GB) copied, 440.265 s, 47.6 MB/s

Write 10GB file - Run 5
----------------------
5000+0 records in
5000+0 records out
10485760000 bytes (10 GB) copied, 200.005 s, 52.4 MB/s

Write 5GB file - Run 5
----------------------
2500+0 records in
2500+0 records out
5242880000 bytes (5.2 GB) copied, 101.689 s, 51.6 MB/s

Write 2GB file - Run 5
----------------------
1000+0 records in
1000+0 records out
2097152000 bytes (2.1 GB) copied, 30.1989 s, 69.4 MB/s

Write 1GB file - Run 5
----------------------
500+0 records in
500+0 records out
1048576000 bytes (1.0 GB) copied, 22.913 s, 45.8 MB/s

Read 50GB file - Run 5
----------------------
25000+0 records in
25000+0 records out
52428800000 bytes (52 GB) copied, 670.111 s, 78.2 MB/s

Read 20GB file - Run 5
----------------------
10000+0 records in
10000+0 records out
20971520000 bytes (21 GB) copied, 263.874 s, 79.5 MB/s

Read 10GB file - Run 5
----------------------
5000+0 records in
5000+0 records out
10485760000 bytes (10 GB) copied, 130.623 s, 80.3 MB/s

Read 5GB file - Run 5
----------------------
2500+0 records in
2500+0 records out
5242880000 bytes (5.2 GB) copied, 67.7657 s, 77.4 MB/s

Read 2GB file - Run 5
----------------------
1000+0 records in
1000+0 records out
2097152000 bytes (2.1 GB) copied, 26.53 s, 79.0 MB/s

Read 1GB file - Run 5
----------------------
500+0 records in
500+0 records out
1048576000 bytes (1.0 GB) copied, 13.2609 s, 79.1 MB/s
joachim@Speedy ~ $ 

This is without any tuning (except enabling prefetch).
I must also mention that the network traffic for writes was very bumpy. Going up to 80MB/s and dropping to 0

 

[Lucas Rey]

sjieke, interesting test... Could you please share the benchmarks_remote.sh script?

 

[sjieke]

Here's the script, the shared directory on my nas (/mnt/tank) is mounted on my client as /mnt/nas using the command:
mount -t nfs 10.10.10.101:/mnt/tank/ /mnt/nas/

Code:

#!/bin/sh
echo ""
echo "Write 1GB file - Run 1"
echo "----------------------"
dd if=/dev/zero of=/mnt/nas/testfile_1G.001 bs=2M count=500

sleep 30

echo ""
echo "Write 2GB file - Run 1"
echo "----------------------"
dd if=/dev/zero of=/mnt/nas/testfile_2G.001 bs=2M count=1000

sleep 30

echo ""
echo "Write 5GB file - Run 1"
echo "----------------------"
dd if=/dev/zero of=/mnt/nas/testfile_5G.001 bs=2M count=2500

sleep 30

echo ""
echo "Write 10GB file - Run 1"
echo "----------------------"
dd if=/dev/zero of=/mnt/nas/testfile_10G.001 bs=2M count=5000

sleep 30

echo ""
echo "Write 20GB file - Run 1"
echo "----------------------"
dd if=/dev/zero of=/mnt/nas/testfile_20G.001 bs=2M count=10000

sleep 30

echo ""
echo "Write 50GB file - Run 1"
echo "----------------------"
dd if=/dev/zero of=/mnt/nas/testfile_50G.001 bs=2M count=25000

sleep 30

echo ""
echo "Read 1GB file - Run 1"
echo "----------------------"
dd of=/dev/null if=/mnt/nas/testfile_1G.001 bs=2M

sleep 30

echo ""
echo "Read 2GB file - Run 1"
echo "----------------------"
dd of=/dev/null if=/mnt/nas/testfile_2G.001 bs=2M

sleep 30

echo ""
echo "Read 5GB file - Run 1"
echo "----------------------"
dd of=/dev/null if=/mnt/nas/testfile_5G.001 bs=2M

sleep 30

echo ""
echo "Read 10GB file - Run 1"
echo "----------------------"
dd of=/dev/null if=/mnt/nas/testfile_10G.001 bs=2M

sleep 30

echo ""
echo "Read 20GB file - Run 1"
echo "----------------------"
dd of=/dev/null if=/mnt/nas/testfile_20G.001 bs=2M

sleep 30

echo ""
echo "Read 50GB file - Run 1"
echo "----------------------"
dd of=/dev/null if=/mnt/nas/testfile_50G.001 bs=2M

sleep 30

echo ""
echo "Write 50GB file - Run 2"
echo "----------------------"
dd if=/dev/zero of=/mnt/nas/testfile_50G.002 bs=2M count=25000

sleep 30

echo ""
echo "Write 20GB file - Run 2"
echo "----------------------"
dd if=/dev/zero of=/mnt/nas/testfile_20G.002 bs=2M count=10000

sleep 30

echo ""
echo "Write 10GB file - Run 2"
echo "----------------------"
dd if=/dev/zero of=/mnt/nas/testfile_10G.002 bs=2M count=5000

sleep 30

echo ""
echo "Write 5GB file - Run 2"
echo "----------------------"
dd if=/dev/zero of=/mnt/nas/testfile_5G.002 bs=2M count=2500

sleep 30

echo ""
echo "Write 2GB file - Run 2"
echo "----------------------"
dd if=/dev/zero of=/mnt/nas/testfile_2G.002 bs=2M count=1000

sleep 30

echo ""
echo "Write 1GB file - Run 2"
echo "----------------------"
dd if=/dev/zero of=/mnt/nas/testfile_1G.002 bs=2M count=500

sleep 30

echo ""
echo "Read 50GB file - Run 2"
echo "----------------------"
dd of=/dev/null if=/mnt/nas/testfile_50G.002 bs=2M

sleep 30

echo ""
echo "Read 20GB file - Run 2"
echo "----------------------"
dd of=/dev/null if=/mnt/nas/testfile_20G.002 bs=2M

sleep 30

echo ""
echo "Read 10GB file - Run 2"
echo "----------------------"
dd of=/dev/null if=/mnt/nas/testfile_10G.002 bs=2M

sleep 30

echo ""
echo "Read 5GB file - Run 2"
echo "----------------------"
dd of=/dev/null if=/mnt/nas/testfile_5G.002 bs=2M

sleep 30

echo ""
echo "Read 2GB file - Run 2"
echo "----------------------"
dd of=/dev/null if=/mnt/nas/testfile_2G.002 bs=2M

sleep 30

echo ""
echo "Read 1GB file - Run 2"
echo "----------------------"
dd of=/dev/null if=/mnt/nas/testfile_1G.002 bs=2M

sleep 30

echo ""
echo "Write 50GB file - Run 3"
echo "----------------------"
dd if=/dev/zero of=/mnt/nas/testfile_50G.003 bs=2M count=25000

sleep 30

echo ""
echo "Write 20GB file - Run 3"
echo "----------------------"
dd if=/dev/zero of=/mnt/nas/testfile_20G.003 bs=2M count=10000

sleep 30

echo ""
echo "Write 10GB file - Run 3"
echo "----------------------"
dd if=/dev/zero of=/mnt/nas/testfile_10G.003 bs=2M count=5000

sleep 30

echo ""
echo "Write 5GB file - Run 3"
echo "----------------------"
dd if=/dev/zero of=/mnt/nas/testfile_5G.003 bs=2M count=2500

sleep 30

echo ""
echo "Write 2GB file - Run 3"
echo "----------------------"
dd if=/dev/zero of=/mnt/nas/testfile_2G.003 bs=2M count=1000

sleep 30

echo ""
echo "Write 1GB file - Run 3"
echo "----------------------"
dd if=/dev/zero of=/mnt/nas/testfile_1G.003 bs=2M count=500

sleep 30

echo ""
echo "Read 50GB file - Run 3"
echo "----------------------"
dd of=/dev/null if=/mnt/nas/testfile_50G.003 bs=2M

sleep 30

echo ""
echo "Read 20GB file - Run 3"
echo "----------------------"
dd of=/dev/null if=/mnt/nas/testfile_20G.003 bs=2M

sleep 30

echo ""
echo "Read 10GB file - Run 3"
echo "----------------------"
dd of=/dev/null if=/mnt/nas/testfile_10G.003 bs=2M

sleep 30

echo ""
echo "Read 5GB file - Run 3"
echo "----------------------"
dd of=/dev/null if=/mnt/nas/testfile_5G.003 bs=2M

sleep 30

echo ""
echo "Read 2GB file - Run 3"
echo "----------------------"
dd of=/dev/null if=/mnt/nas/testfile_2G.003 bs=2M

sleep 30

echo ""
echo "Read 1GB file - Run 3"
echo "----------------------"
dd of=/dev/null if=/mnt/nas/testfile_1G.003 bs=2M

sleep 30

echo ""
echo "Write 1GB file - Run 4"
echo "----------------------"
dd if=/dev/zero of=/mnt/nas/testfile_1G.004 bs=2M count=500

sleep 30

echo ""
echo "Write 2GB file - Run 4"
echo "----------------------"
dd if=/dev/zero of=/mnt/nas/testfile_2G.004 bs=2M count=1000

sleep 30

echo ""
echo "Write 5GB file - Run 4"
echo "----------------------"
dd if=/dev/zero of=/mnt/nas/testfile_5G.004 bs=2M count=2500

sleep 30

echo ""
echo "Write 10GB file - Run 4"
echo "----------------------"
dd if=/dev/zero of=/mnt/nas/testfile_10G.004 bs=2M count=5000

sleep 30

echo ""
echo "Write 20GB file - Run 4"
echo "----------------------"
dd if=/dev/zero of=/mnt/nas/testfile_20G.004 bs=2M count=10000

sleep 30

echo ""
echo "Write 50GB file - Run 4"
echo "----------------------"
dd if=/dev/zero of=/mnt/nas/testfile_50G.004 bs=2M count=25000

sleep 30

echo ""
echo "Read 1GB file - Run 4"
echo "----------------------"
dd of=/dev/null if=/mnt/nas/testfile_1G.004 bs=2M

sleep 30

echo ""
echo "Read 2GB file - Run 4"
echo "----------------------"
dd of=/dev/null if=/mnt/nas/testfile_2G.004 bs=2M

sleep 30

echo ""
echo "Read 5GB file - Run 4"
echo "----------------------"
dd of=/dev/null if=/mnt/nas/testfile_5G.004 bs=2M

sleep 30

echo ""
echo "Read 10GB file - Run 4"
echo "----------------------"
dd of=/dev/null if=/mnt/nas/testfile_10G.004 bs=2M

sleep 30

echo ""
echo "Read 20GB file - Run 4"
echo "----------------------"
dd of=/dev/null if=/mnt/nas/testfile_20G.004 bs=2M

sleep 30

echo ""
echo "Read 50GB file - Run 4"
echo "----------------------"
dd of=/dev/null if=/mnt/nas/testfile_50G.004 bs=2M

sleep 30

echo ""
echo "Write 50GB file - Run 5"
echo "----------------------"
dd if=/dev/zero of=/mnt/nas/testfile_50G.005 bs=2M count=25000

sleep 30

echo ""
echo "Write 20GB file - Run 5"
echo "----------------------"
dd if=/dev/zero of=/mnt/nas/testfile_20G.005 bs=2M count=10000

sleep 30

echo ""
echo "Write 10GB file - Run 5"
echo "----------------------"
dd if=/dev/zero of=/mnt/nas/testfile_10G.005 bs=2M count=5000

sleep 30

echo ""
echo "Write 5GB file - Run 5"
echo "----------------------"
dd if=/dev/zero of=/mnt/nas/testfile_5G.005 bs=2M count=2500

sleep 30

echo ""
echo "Write 2GB file - Run 5"
echo "----------------------"
dd if=/dev/zero of=/mnt/nas/testfile_2G.005 bs=2M count=1000

sleep 30

echo ""
echo "Write 1GB file - Run 5"
echo "----------------------"
dd if=/dev/zero of=/mnt/nas/testfile_1G.005 bs=2M count=500

sleep 30

echo ""
echo "Read 50GB file - Run 5"
echo "----------------------"
dd of=/dev/null if=/mnt/nas/testfile_50G.005 bs=2M

sleep 30

echo ""
echo "Read 20GB file - Run 5"
echo "----------------------"
dd of=/dev/null if=/mnt/nas/testfile_20G.005 bs=2M

sleep 30

echo ""
echo "Read 10GB file - Run 5"
echo "----------------------"
dd of=/dev/null if=/mnt/nas/testfile_10G.005 bs=2M

sleep 30

echo ""
echo "Read 5GB file - Run 5"
echo "----------------------"
dd of=/dev/null if=/mnt/nas/testfile_5G.005 bs=2M

sleep 30

echo ""
echo "Read 2GB file - Run 5"
echo "----------------------"
dd of=/dev/null if=/mnt/nas/testfile_2G.005 bs=2M

sleep 30

echo ""
echo "Read 1GB file - Run 5"
echo "----------------------"
dd of=/dev/null if=/mnt/nas/testfile_1G.005 bs=2M

If you have any tuning tips to get less bumpy writes, I'm interested in trying them :)

 

[ProtoSD]

Change your vfs.zfs.prefetch_disable="0" to

vfs.zfs.prefetch_disable="0"

Not sure if that will help your writes, but it should help your reads since you have 4GB of RAM....


UPDATE: I got caught by the double negative prefetch mind-trick.... should have said ZERO
No change was needed @sjieke was correct.

 

[sjieke]

@protosd
Thanks for your suggestion, but disabling prefetch (vfs.zfs.prefetch_disable="1") made my read throughput go down by about 20MB/s, so enabling it (vfs.zfs.prefetch_disable="0") is the prefered setting (for me at least).

I tried setting vfs.zfs.txg.timeout=5 and vfs.zfs.txg.synctime=2 to get less bursty writes. It improves, but is still a bit bursty. The overall write throughput isn't affected much.

 

[ProtoSD]

@sjieke

Hey, I'm really sorry about that! I realized earlier that I had said the wrong thing but couldn't remember where this post was. I'll update my message above to fix that so it says ZERO.

Thanks for pointing that out.

 

[sjieke]

No problem.

It is indeed very confusing. To enable prefetching you need to disable the disabling of prefetch :)