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Old 7th December 2009
horseflesh horseflesh is offline
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Default Silly basic v8 ZFS question: 32bit ok?

I did some searching but could not find an answer: is ZFS in version 8 still restricted to 64 bit architectures? (I'm currently using it on an old dual-core Athlon X2-3800)

I have some nice server class P4 hardware that I would like to run FreeBSD on but I won't migrate if I will lose ZFS. Based on this documentation, I don't think the P4 can run the 64bit OS.

Link muddled as I am a new user:
freebsd dot org slash platforms slash amd64.html

Perhaps a new CPU is the way to go.

Thanks!
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Old 7th December 2009
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phoenix phoenix is offline
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ZFS runs on 32-bit or 64-bit FreeBSD installs.

On 32-bit installs, you have to do a lot of manual tuning to keep things running smoothly, and you are limited to 4 GB of RAM. But it works.

On 64-bit installs, you don't have to do as much manual tuning, you aren't limited to 4 GB of RAM, and things run better.

There's no "ZFS is limited to 64-bit OSes" restriction.
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Old 7th December 2009
horseflesh horseflesh is offline
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Thanks. I probably misread the 64 bit advisory as being a requirement back when I installed V7.
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Old 7th December 2009
BSDfan666 BSDfan666 is offline
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Running on 64-bit also gives you an increase in virtual memory, which could be mapped files, disk swap or physical ram.. something like ZFS would still likely benefit in such an environment, even if you had the same amount of memory installed.

It would be a significant downgrade if you migrate from 64-bit AMD Athlon's to Pentium 4 (which was well know for being poorly designed.. Intel's NetBurst architecture).

Intel's newer "Core" series went back to the older P6 architecture, which was used in the Pentium 2 and 3.

Just my opinion, however, the bulk of my collection consists of older computers.. P4's often feel slower when compared to AMD's equivalent of the time, even high end P3's.
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Old 7th December 2009
horseflesh horseflesh is offline
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Yeah, I am not excited about stepping down to a P4, but I have come into possession of some nice server hardware, including case, power supply, disk array... I'd like to make use of the stuff for its mechanical quality, you know? But I think I will either put my existing Athlon 64 board into the new server-grade case, or upgrade the P4 CPU to something better in the same socket. Hopefully, it's a socket 775 board.

Thanks for the reply, I appreciate it.
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