The simplest way to check data integrity is to initiate an explicit scrubbing of all data within the pool. This operation traverses all the data in the pool once and verifies that all blocks can be read. Scrubbing proceeds as fast as the devices allow, though the priority of any I/O remains below that of normal operations. This operation might negatively impact performance, though the pool's data should remain usable and nearly as responsive while the scrubbing occurs. To initiate an explicit scrub, use the zpool scrub command. For example:
# zpool scrub tank |
The status of the current scrubbing operation can be displayed by using the zpool status command. For example:
# zpool status -v tank pool: tank state: ONLINE scrub: scrub completed after 0h7m with 0 errors on Tue Tue Feb 2 12:54:00 2010 config: NAME STATE READ WRITE CKSUM tank ONLINE 0 0 0 mirror-0 ONLINE 0 0 0 c1t0d0 ONLINE 0 0 0 c1t1d0 ONLINE 0 0 0 errors: No known data errors |
Only one active scrubbing operation per pool can occur at one time.
You can stop a scrubbing operation that is in progress by using the -s option. For example:
# zpool scrub -s tank |
In most cases, a scrubing operation to ensure data integrity should continue to completion. Stop a scrubbing operation at your own discretion if system performance is impacted by the operation.
Performing routine scrubbing guarantees continuous I/O to all disks on the system. Routine scrubbing has the side effect of preventing power management from placing idle disks in low-power mode. If the system is generally performing I/O all the time, or if power consumption is not a concern, then this issue can safely be ignored.
For more information about interpreting zpool status output, see Querying ZFS Storage Pool Status.