Talk:COMP 3000 Essay 1 2010 Question 9

Contacts / If interested

Tawfic : tfatah@gmail.com

Andy Zemancik: andy.zemancik@gmail.com

Lester Mundt: lmundt@gmail.com

Matthew Chou : mateh.cc@gmail.com (this is mchou2)

Suggested References Format

Author, publisher/university, Name of the article

Who is doing what

Suggestion: In order to avoid duplication. Please state what section/item you're currently working on.

Tawfic : Currently working on Section One ZFS.

Deadline

Suggestion: Adding content should stop on Thursday, October 14'th at 3:00 PM. Any work after that should go into formatting, spelling, and grammar checking.

Essay Format Take 2

Hello. I am suggesting the following format instead. If you agree, I'll take care of merging the existing info into this new format. My feeling is that this format is more flexible and will (hopefully) allow individuals to take a section or a sub-section and work on it.

Abstract

TO-DO: Main point. Current File Systems are neither versatile enough nor intelligent to handle the rapidly
growing needs of dynamic storage.

TO-DO: few statements regarding the WHYS as to the need for versatile storage (e.g. cloud computing, mobile environments, shifting consumer
demand . . etc )

TO-DO: few statements regarding the need for intelligence (just statements, the body will take care of expanding on these ). E.g. more
intelligent FS’s can include Metadata to help crime investigators, smart FS’s could be self healing . . .etc.

Traditional File Systems
- Characteristics
- Limitations

Zettabyte File System
- Characteristics
- Dissected

TO-DO: List the seven components of ZFS and basically what makes a ZFS
E.g. interface, various parts, and external needed libraries . . etc.

- Features Beyond Traditional File Systems

- Possible Real-Life Scenarios / Examples

TO-DO: 2-3 examples where ZFS was/could/is being considered for use.

TO-DO : One to two paragraphs stressing / reiterating the main points made in the abstract
        thesis statement).

Alternatives to ZFS

one example is good enough.
TO-DO: a brief description of the alternative.
Main argument for it’s viability.

- Pros/Cons

TO-DO: just a list of pluses and minuses

TO-DO : two to three paragraphs summarizing (this is the conclusion) the main points outlined in the abstract and the body, restating why traditional
FS’s are no longer viable, and  stressing once more that ZFS is a valid alternative.

Essay Format

I started working on the main page. The bullets are to be expanded. Other group are are working in their respective discussion pages but I think it's all right to put our work in progress on the front page. Thoughts?--Lmundt 16:14, 6 October 2010 (UTC)

Gbint 02:03, 7 October 2010 (UTC) Lmundt; what do you think of listing the capacities of the file system under major features? I was thinking that we could overview the features in brief, then delve into each one individually.
--Lmundt 14:31, 7 October 2010 (UTC) I was thinking about the major structure... I like what your suggesting in one section. So here is the structure I am thinking of.

Intro
Section One ZFS
- Major feature 1
- Major feature 2
- Major feature 3
Section Two Legacy File Systems
- Legacy File System1( FAT32 ) - what it does
- Legacy File System2( ext2 ) - what it does
- Contrast them with ZFS
Section Three Current File Systems
- NTFS?
- ext4?
- Contrast them with ZFS
Section Four future file Systems
- BTRFS
- WinFS or ??
- Contrast them with ZFS
Conclusion

What does everyone think of this format? While everyone should contribute to section one we could divvy up the rest.

Gbint 16:29, 9 October 2010 (UTC) The layout looks good; I filled out the data dedup section. I think it has reasonable coverage while staying away from becoming it's own essay just on deduplication.

The legacy file systems are really not even in the same world as ZFS, so I think the contrasting section should cover a lot of how storage needs have changed.

The current file systems are capable of being expanded into large pools of storage with good redundancy and even advanced features like data deduplication, but they are only a component in a chain of tools (like ext4 + lvm + mdraid + opendedup) rather than an full end-to-end solution.

--Lmundt 23:35, 9 October 2010 (UTC) The section on deduplication looks good I agree it looks like the right amount of coverage for a portion of a single section. Your also right about the old file systems not being able to hold a candle to ZFS and the conclusion section should talk about how storage needs and computers changed. And intro to that section could set the stage for that period as well. Non-multi-threaded, single processor system with much smaller RAM, even the applications were radically different the Internet was just single webpages without the high performance needs of web commerce and online banking for example. I have another assignment so won't be contributing too much until Monday.

--Tafatah 23:54, 10 October 2010 (UTC) Please take a look at suggested essay format #2 and let me know soon. Time is running out Gents and Ladies :)

--Lmundt 15:35, 11 October 2010 (UTC) I think I prefer the outline I proposed only because it's a very regimented contrast/compare essay format and should get us any marks for format. Most proper essays don't usually have a dedicated pros cons list. Heading more towards a report format I think. It's really what everyone agrees on. I won't be touching the essay until tomorrow though.

--Azemanci 17:32, 11 October 2010 (UTC) I like Lmundt's outline. How would you like to divide up the work? Also can everyone post the contact information so we know exactly who is in our group.

--Tafatah 19:03, 11 October 2010 (UTC) No problem, I'll go with the current format. One issue to keep in mind is that this is an essay, not a report. I.E. the intro/thesis has to include a reasonable suggestion towards using ZFS as a reliable FS. The body and the conclusion would have to assert that. The current format satisfies that if we keep these points in mind. I started looking into the "dissect subsection" in the format I suggested, which is related to the ZFS features section one in the current format. I'll continue to look into that part (above section, who is doing what will be updated accordingly), i.e. I'll take care of section one since I've already done some work on it. I suggest that each member of the group picks two items from one of the other sections, except the contrasting part. Content in section one can then be used to finalize the comparisons in each of sections 2-4. The Intro/Abstract and conclusion sections can be left to the end, and can be done collaboratively. I.E. once we have a very clear picture of all the different pieces.

--Azemanci 03:18, 12 October 2010 (UTC) I will begin working on section three Current File Systems unless someone else has already begun working on it.

--Mchou2 20:29, 12 October 2010 (UTC) I am going to start researching for section 2.

Sources

Not from your group. Found a file which goes to the heart of your problem [http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/server-storage/solaris/overview/zfs-14990 2.pdf ZFSDatasheet] Gautam 22:50, 5 October 2010 (UTC)

Thanks will take a look at that.--Lmundt 16:12, 6 October 2010 (UTC)

Gbint 01:45, 7 October 2010 (UTC) paper from Sun engineers explaining why they came to build ZFS, the problems they wanted to solve:

Excellent article.Lmundt 14:24, 7 October 2010 (UTC)

Not too exciting but it looks like an easy read http://arstechnica.com/hardware/news/2008/03/past-present-future-file-systems.ars Lmundt 14:40, 7 October 2010 (UTC)

the wikipedia comparison has some good tables, and if you click the various categories you can learn quite a bit about the various important features //not your group. Rift 18:56, 7 October 2010 (UTC)

Hey, I'm not from your group but I found this slideshow that was really handy in the assignment! http://www.slideshare.net/Clogeny/zfs-the-last-word-in-filesystems - nshires

Hey there. I'm not a member of your group. But you guys might want to look at this Wiki-page from the SolarisInternals website. I used it today for our assignment, a lot of interesting and in-depth breakdown of the ZFS file system: http://www.solarisinternals.com/wiki/index.php/ZFS_Best_Practices_Guide#ZFS_Performance_Considerations

-- Munther