Sharing disks between SPARC and x86
I need to be able to mount a disk on a Solaris SPARC system, fill it with files, then move that disk to a Solaris x86 system and unload the files there.
I formatted the drive with an EFI partition table (using format -e) to make the disk layout compatible with both systems. I can newfs a slice on the drive from either system. No matter which system I start with, I will get an error when I try to mount it on the other platform. I see the same problem that was mentioned in Bug ID 1164811 back in 1994. Is there a workaround? Would VxFS work better than UFS?
Thanks for any suggestions!
[608 byte] By [
solexa] at [2007-11-26 16:16:54]
# 1
> I need to be able to mount a disk on a Solaris SPARC
> system, fill it with files, then move that disk to a
> Solaris x86 system and unload the files there.
I would start with the disk on the x86 system. I would then ftp or NFS the files from the Sparc to the x86 machine.
If that is not possible then what I have done in the past is to employ the use of a tape drive.
alan
# 2
If you use a USB interface, that will work fine. I have an IDE drive stuffed in a USB case that I plug into my Mac, Solaris x64, and Solaris SPARC boxen and they all see it/work with it just fine.
# 3
Thanks for the suggestions!
I need to move the data quickly to minimize downtime and I am worried that transferring nearly 1TB of data over the 1Gb ethernet will be unreliable, but I will go that route if necessary.
How do you have this HD formatted? Is it UFS, FAT32, or something else? Which system did you use for the format and mkfs?
# 4
> I need to be able to mount a disk on a Solaris SPARC
> system, fill it with files, then move that disk to a
> Solaris x86 system and unload the files there.
>
> I formatted the drive with an EFI partition table
> (using format -e) to make the disk layout compatible
> with both systems. I can newfs a slice on the drive
> from either system. No matter which system I start
> with, I will get an error when I try to mount it on
> the other platform. I see the same problem that was
> mentioned in Bug ID 1164811 back in 1994. Is there a
> workaround? Would VxFS work better than UFS?
UFS is not compatible across architectures.
VxFS can be, but requires you use a conversion tool on it prior to mounting. I'm assuming you'd need at least 4.0 (and a CDS disk if using VxVM).
ZFS should be able to import directly.
I'm assuming you're taking care of any endian issues in your own data.
--
Darren
# 5
Excellent suggestion! "ZFS enables you to export the pool from one machine and import it on the destination machine, even if the machines are of different endianness."
-- http://docs.sun.com/app/docs/doc/819-5461/6n7ht6qrv?a=view
Also, thanks for your concern about my data! ZFS rocks!
