Re: [RFD] Layering: Use-Case Composers (was: DRBD - what is it, anyways?[compare with e.g. NBD + MD raid])

From: David Greaves
Date: Mon Aug 13 2007 - 09:00:08 EST


david@xxxxxxx wrote:
per the message below MD (or DM) would need to be modified to work reasonably well with one of the disk components being over an unreliable link (like a network link)

are the MD/DM maintainers interested in extending their code in this direction? or would they prefer to keep it simpler by being able to continue to assume that the raid components are connected over a highly reliable connection?

if they are interested in adding (and maintaining) this functionality then there is a real possibility that NBD+MD/DM could eliminate the need for DRDB. however if they are not interested in adding all the code to deal with the network type issues, then the argument that DRDB should not be merged becouse you can do the same thing with MD/DM + NBD is invalid and can be dropped/ignored

David Lang

As a user I'd like to see md/nbd be extended to cope with unreliable links.
I think md could be better in handling link exceptions. My unreliable memory recalls sporadic issues with hot-plug leaving md hanging and certain lower level errors (or even very high latency) causing unsatisfactory behaviour in what is supposed to be a fault 'tolerant' subsystem.


Would this just be relevant to network devices or would it improve support for jostled usb and sata hot-plugging I wonder?

David

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