1. Installing and Configuring an Oracle Solaris Cluster 4.4 Environment
  2. Planning the Oracle Solaris Cluster Configuration
  3. Planning Volume Management
  4. Mirroring Guidelines
  5. Guidelines for Mirroring the ZFS Root Pool

Guidelines for Mirroring the ZFS Root Pool

Oracle Solaris ZFS is the default root file system in the Oracle Solaris release. See How to Configure a Mirrored Root Pool (SPARC or x86/VTOC) in Managing ZFS File Systems in Oracle Solaris 11.4 for instructions about how to mirror the ZFS root pool. Also see Chapter 6, Managing the ZFS Root Pool in Managing ZFS File Systems in Oracle Solaris 11.4 for information about how to manage the different root pool components.

For maximum availability, mirror root (/), /usr, /var, /opt, and swap on the local disks. However, Oracle Solaris Cluster software does not require that you mirror the ZFS root pool.

Consider the following points when you decide whether to mirror the ZFS root pool:

  • Boot disk – You can set up the mirror to be a bootable root pool. You can then boot from the mirror if the primary boot disk fails.

  • Backups – Regardless of whether you mirror the root pool, you also should perform regular backups of root. Mirroring alone does not protect against administrative errors. Only a backup plan enables you to restore files that have been accidentally altered or deleted.

  • Quorum devices – Do not use a disk that was configured as a quorum device to mirror a root pool.

  • Separate controllers – Highest availability includes mirroring the root pool on a separate controller.