Systems & Networking

This is a quick guide on how to resize your ZFS pool after adding more storage. We won't get too much into the details on how to add more storage to a multi provider ZFS pool or RAID setup (that's a complex subject). This guide will be limited to a single provider (aka 'disk' or volume).

I use XgimaNAS, an open source FreeBSD bases NAS appliance with 6x Western Digital 3TB (WD30EFRX) HDD's with a Areca ARC-1320-4i4x SAS HBA. Four of the drives are connected to a SansDigital 4-bay external enclosure, the other two are attached internally. Two drives are setup as a ZFS mirror and the remaining 4 in a RAIDZ2 configuration. It's been several years, and in that time I've had HDDs fail and replaced. The enclosure's power supply also failed at one point in history for which I had to replace the whole enclosure. The ZFS pools manage to survive all this turmoil very well.

This is part 2 of my Gigabyte R281-T91 ARM64 server unboxing and installation. In this post we will be installing some basic hardware components so that the server can be booted up and have an operating system installed. I purchased this as a bare bones system from ThunderXForums.

A few days ago I did what most people would call an impulse buy for a very expensive wireless mechanical "gaming" keyboard. Even though the desire for this hardware has been prevalent for many years, this kind of keyboard has only recently started to become a reality. A year ago you'd have a lot of difficulty finding a keyboard with this combination of features. Razer is the latest to come out with there attempt at satisfying the needs of the market.

This is mostly going to be a visual post.  I will unbox my newest server, my first high powered ARM64 (aarch64) system.  It's a Cavium/Marvell 56-core ThunderX2 put together by Gigabyte and sold by ThunderXForums.  I have lots of experience with inexpensive ARM based single board computers.  The PineBook Pro, all types of Raspberry Pi's (including the 400), Pine64, Rock64, Orange Pi, Banana Pi, and even the ASUS Tinker Board.  Those are all fine low powered devices good for... well...