TrueNAS VM - Zvol versus SMB - IO Performance

[lancing]

I was hoping someone else may have already done this testing.

But related to running a VM on TrueNAS in the context of a mounted application drive would I get better IO performance from a zvol or a mounted SMB share for a given pool?

My assumption would be the zvol but based on other posts on here there seems to be mixed views on that.

Thanks in advance!

 

[ornias]

Well a zvol isn't a share, so obviously the zvol because it doesn't have to go over the network :')

If anyone tells you a zvol is slower than a full smb+networking stack, send me the link so I can have a good laugh.

 

[lancing]

Well a zvol isn't a share, so obviously the zvol because it doesn't have to go over the network :')

If anyone tells you a zvol is slower than a full smb+networking stack, send me the link so I can have a good laugh.

Thanks!

 

[ornias]

Hint:
That was a joke mostly.

I think you meant iSCSI on zvol vs SMB.
In these cases: It depends on your usecase, your setup and you clients.

I would advice running iSCSI on filestor (storing it into a file instead of a zvol) because it allows the use of a metadata vdev for smallblocks) anyway.
Which makes it just a:
iSCSI vs SMB discussion. Which you can find everywhere on the internet ;-)