Question about RAID5/6 stability

BTRFS
41

Hi all,
please note we already had a discussion here on Rockstor about Spinics posts and actually btrfs raid5/6 bugs are not solved at all (please check btrfs group feedbacks too)

Ciao
Mirko

42

Anyone that can interpret the new patches from qu Wenruo ?

Both patches are here: https://www.mail-archive.com/linux-btrfs@vger.kernel.org/
dated march 29th.

Im planning on returning to Rockstor when BTRFS can be considered stable and quick (currently using RaidZ2 ZFS), but curious about status.

3 Likes
43

Hi guys,

I’m new on the forum and this is actually my 1th post.
I try to move from a thecus nas (4x 2TB raid 5 config) to an ZSF or BTRFS system.
I consider rockstor because it’s linux and it uses container based plugins + it uses resources a bit different then ZFS. I need the flexibility in btrfs but the only big concern is how reliable is today for raid 5 setup?
latest kernel update + btrfs have the issues solved?
i was following this status page:
https://btrfs.wiki.kernel.org/index.php/Status

Thank you

44

I wouldn’t consider RAID56 ready yet.

But its getting there. I would wait until the preliminary fixes are implemented and tested before using it.

I am patiently waiting for it to be stable enough to convert my pool to RAID6.
Until then I run RAID1.

2 Likes
45

thanks for the reply
Is there any estimation or desire to have this fixed this year?
just asking. otherwise i’m forced to go with freenas which i want to avoid

46

I dont think there is any timetable as to when this will be fixed.

It has allready taken a relatively long time to get as far as we are, and I´m certain the developers wants this done quickly. But its complicated work, and time resources are limited. So there is no ETA.

If you want to go with RAID5, it could probably work OK, if your NAS is on a UPS.
This would make the issue with the write hole less likely to be a problem, if your NAS is otherwise reliable and doesn’t crash.
And the write hole seems to be the last big hurdle against RAID56 being marked as stable / reliable.

Without a UPS I would definately stay off RAID56. I’m on a UPS, and still waiting for the feature to be labeled stable.

I understand your problem, for me the non reliable RAID56 allmost made me drop using Rockstor.
But I hope you find a replacement that will satisfy your needs, if you cant make Rockstor work for you.

1 Like