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I have an OpenSolaris server with a zpool backupz comprised of four SCSI drives:

-bash-3.2# zpool status backupz
  pool: backupz
 state: ONLINE
 scrub: none requested
config:

        NAME        STATE     READ WRITE CKSUM
        backupz     ONLINE       0     0     0
          raidz1    ONLINE       0     0     0
            c7t0d0  ONLINE       0     0     0
            c7t1d0  ONLINE       0     0     0
            c7t2d0  ONLINE       0     0     0
            c7t3d0  ONLINE       0     0     0

errors: No known data errors

I want to add a fifth drive... but zpool add backupz raidz c7t4d0 isn't working...

-bash-3.2# zpool add backupz raidz c7t4d0
invalid vdev specification: raidz requires at least 2 devices

Can I not have a raidz config with 5 devices? Do I have to add two devices at once? or am I doing something incorrect altogether here?

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3 Answers

up vote 3 down vote accepted

To my knowledge (which is slightly outdated) you can't expand an existing zpool vdev, you have to blow it away and create it again with the new drive(s).

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Uh oh. If that's the case I've made a terrible decision somewhere! =o – Josh Oct 12 '10 at 18:59
-1 Of course a zpool can be expanded. What do you think the zpool add command does? The limitation which Josh is running into, is that you can't change the composition of a raidz vdev ("raidz1" in his example). You can add new devices to the pool itself just fine. This is one of the reason why mirror vdevs are preferred: serverfault.com/questions/63809/zfs-mirror-vs-raid-z – Wim Coenen Oct 13 '10 at 13:36
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@Wim, I'm well aware that you can add additional vdevs to a pool. It was a minor typo, and there's no reason to jump all over me like that. – Chris S♦ Oct 13 '10 at 14:01
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up vote 8 down vote

See this thread from one of the FreeBSD lists: http://lists.freebsd.org/pipermail/freebsd-fs/2009-June/006327.html

To quote Dan Naumov,

To reiterate, you cant just add a single disk drive to a raidz1 or raidz2 pool. This is a known limitation (you can check with SUN ZFS docs). If you have an existing raidz and you MUST increase that particular pool's storage capabilities, you have 3 options:

1) Add a raidz of the same configuration to the pool (think 3 disk raidz + 3 disk raidz or 5 + 5, for example)

2) Replace each (and every) disk in your raidz pool one by one, letting it resilver after inserting each upgraded disk

3) Backup your data, destroy your pool and create a new raidz pool with a bigger amount of disks.

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+1: Thanks @brent! Your answer was more detailed than Chris' however he was providing me with detailed info in chat, so I accepted his answer. I appreciate the information! – Josh Oct 13 '10 at 22:33
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up vote 0 down vote

Does it have to be same number of disks in the newly added vdev? I thought you should be able, for example, to add 3 disk vdev to an existing 4 disk set (ie. your pool does not have to contain same number of disks in each vdisk).

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please use the Ask Question (in the top right of every page) to ask questions. No, they don't have to have the same composition at all. You can use different types of vdevs (mirror, raidz, raidz2), or plain drives, or different size disks, or a different number of disks, or any combination thereof. – Chris S♦ Nov 19 '10 at 13:36
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