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I'm pretty blown away that there is an active OpenZfs on Windows Project ongoing. Personally I would not likely use ZFS for a Windows desktop but for Servers,

I'm pretty blown away that there is an active OpenZfs on Windows Project ongoing. Personally I would not likely use ZFS for a Windows desktop but for Servers, might be handy. For desktop, I always virtualize my windows on a host that has ZFS (Ubuntu 20.04). By adding SMB shares from host to guest gives me what I need to snapshot my user data. The only drawback is no hardlinking on windohs guest but that's a rare usecase for me.

csdvrx 5y ago
There are many ways to use ZFS for windows... even without OpenZfs on Windows! Check https://happyadministrator.com/2020/11/29/windows-users-probably-do-not-utilize-their-hardware-effeciently/ https://happyadministrator.com/2020/11/29/windows-users-prob... : it's not just for servers. The performance gains and extra features make it worth doing for a regular desktop. Personally, I am a Windows 10 fan. I have tried Linux but found the command line experience sub optimal ( explained on https://github.com/csdvrx/cutexterm https://github.com/csdvrx/cutexterm ) - except for the filesystem! So for my next Windows 10 installation, I preparing a KVM GPU passthrough, just to keep using msys2 on MinTTY for a wonderful user interface, yet with a great filesystem behind (a raid of NVMe, datasets snapshotting etc...) That should give the best of both worlds!
- teruakohatu 5y ago
  I am going to be honest, I can't figure out if the cutexterm README is trolling me or not. You list some features that cutexterm has, but don't make it clear what advantages it has over existing terminal emulators. Sixel support is nice but maybe show examples on why we might want support for it. I don't know what I would use it for. If it was not intended as a troll, I suggest not to referring to linux enthusiasts as Millenials (sic) with Stockholm syndrome. /unsolicited-feedback
  - csdvrx 5y ago
    > You list some features that cutexterm has, but don't make it clear what advantages it has over existing terminal emulators cutexterm is just a configuration of xterm. I tried to make the best out of my Linux experience by spending a lot of time working on what I perceive as commandline usability issues. Hopefully, it will save some time to other people, if only by showing the limitations of the approach. In the end, I give up, because it's a dead end. This is why I will do a KVM GPU passthrough: to get a proper terminal experience with proper font support, sixel support, etc. thanks to mintty on Windows 10. > Sixel support is nice but maybe show examples on why we might want support for it. I don't know what I would use it for. When I ssh to a server, running gnuplot remotely saves me a lot of time. When I need to check a video file, I run mpv - and so on, so proper sixel support is very important to my workflow. Maybe it's not important for yours. Or if your terminal emulator did not support it, maybe you never became dependent on this feature? Personally, I couldn't do without it. > I suggest not to referring to linux enthusiasts as Millenials (sic) with Stockholm syndrome. Uh, that's just my personal judgement. I can't explain otherwise why someone would prefer anything besides mintty if they have had the opportunity to use it on Windows 10. With Edge running on Linux (and even syncing works now!) I have less of a need to run Windows 10, but I still prefer it. So I'm going back while keeping the good things I gained from ZFS :-) If you are not annoyed by the Linux terminals, I guess we just have different tastes/preferences.
cgb223 5y ago
What’s the advantage to running windows virtually in Ubuntu/ZFS vs just natively with backups enabled? Is there a specific flow you use that makes this more optimal? How is performance?
- Timothycquinn 5y ago
  I have automated snapshots of the Windows VM which are backed up to a remote ZVS Pool. This protects me from BSOD corruptions. BSOD corruption can be avoided with bare metal windows but it takes a bit more work. Performance is fine. I don't use this for gaming or GPU heavy windows tasks and am running on a dual CPU Xeon tower. Have also run This setup on my i7 ZBooks and Elitebooks in the past with no issues with the right config. Challenge is always disk space and memory when virtualizing. Must reserve RAM for VMware workstation or else you will have intermittent swapping issues. Biggest reason for me to use Linux on bare metal is security. Windows is and always will be the Swiss cheese of security issues. With Linux, I can harden to host much tighter and the windows host never can be pinged externally as its on a private Network behind VMware.
Wowfunhappy 5y ago
ZFS is perfectly useful on desktops, why not on Windows? I have data that I want to be preserved, and ZFS is great.
- Timothycquinn 5y ago
  Just a personal preference. I will only install windows on physical hardware for gaming or GPU intensive purposes. I don't see much advantage to using ZFS on a VM guest except for bitrot protection. This can be accomplished using SMB share on zfs dataset on the linux host. For my day to day programming and devops, I virtualize Windows Server for all my desktop work that I have to use windows for which is anything I cannot do on Linux which is not too much actually. Just use it for Remote admin of IPMI's, VCenter, IIS, SQL Server and Visual Studio for rare coding scenario's. On linux, I even use WinSCP which solves all my change request code syncing to remote servers. With ZFS on root, its awesome. Only time I ever lost a linux server is when windows update on another drive screwed up the boot sector on my linux drive. I cannot count the number of times a windows blue screened permanently for me. I swore to never depend on windows again and switched to Linux for good. May switch to OSX in the future once hardware becomes more reasonably priced (M1 chip appears to be awesome).

csdvrx 5y ago

There are many ways to use ZFS for windows... even without OpenZfs on Windows! Check https://happyadministrator.com/2020/11/29/windows-users-probably-do-not-utilize-their-hardware-effeciently/ https://happyadministrator.com/2020/11/29/windows-users-prob... : it's not just for servers. The performance gains and extra features make it worth doing for a regular desktop. Personally, I am a Windows 10 fan. I have tried Linux but found the command line experience sub optimal ( explained on https://github.com/csdvrx/cutexterm https://github.com/csdvrx/cutexterm ) - except for the filesystem! So for my next Windows 10 installation, I preparing a KVM GPU passthrough, just to keep using msys2 on MinTTY for a wonderful user interface, yet with a great filesystem behind (a raid of NVMe, datasets snapshotting etc...) That should give the best of both worlds!

teruakohatu 5y ago
I am going to be honest, I can't figure out if the cutexterm README is trolling me or not. You list some features that cutexterm has, but don't make it clear what advantages it has over existing terminal emulators. Sixel support is nice but maybe show examples on why we might want support for it. I don't know what I would use it for. If it was not intended as a troll, I suggest not to referring to linux enthusiasts as Millenials (sic) with Stockholm syndrome. /unsolicited-feedback
- csdvrx 5y ago
  > You list some features that cutexterm has, but don't make it clear what advantages it has over existing terminal emulators cutexterm is just a configuration of xterm. I tried to make the best out of my Linux experience by spending a lot of time working on what I perceive as commandline usability issues. Hopefully, it will save some time to other people, if only by showing the limitations of the approach. In the end, I give up, because it's a dead end. This is why I will do a KVM GPU passthrough: to get a proper terminal experience with proper font support, sixel support, etc. thanks to mintty on Windows 10. > Sixel support is nice but maybe show examples on why we might want support for it. I don't know what I would use it for. When I ssh to a server, running gnuplot remotely saves me a lot of time. When I need to check a video file, I run mpv - and so on, so proper sixel support is very important to my workflow. Maybe it's not important for yours. Or if your terminal emulator did not support it, maybe you never became dependent on this feature? Personally, I couldn't do without it. > I suggest not to referring to linux enthusiasts as Millenials (sic) with Stockholm syndrome. Uh, that's just my personal judgement. I can't explain otherwise why someone would prefer anything besides mintty if they have had the opportunity to use it on Windows 10. With Edge running on Linux (and even syncing works now!) I have less of a need to run Windows 10, but I still prefer it. So I'm going back while keeping the good things I gained from ZFS :-) If you are not annoyed by the Linux terminals, I guess we just have different tastes/preferences.

cgb223 5y ago

What’s the advantage to running windows virtually in Ubuntu/ZFS vs just natively with backups enabled? Is there a specific flow you use that makes this more optimal? How is performance?

Timothycquinn 5y ago
I have automated snapshots of the Windows VM which are backed up to a remote ZVS Pool. This protects me from BSOD corruptions. BSOD corruption can be avoided with bare metal windows but it takes a bit more work. Performance is fine. I don't use this for gaming or GPU heavy windows tasks and am running on a dual CPU Xeon tower. Have also run This setup on my i7 ZBooks and Elitebooks in the past with no issues with the right config. Challenge is always disk space and memory when virtualizing. Must reserve RAM for VMware workstation or else you will have intermittent swapping issues. Biggest reason for me to use Linux on bare metal is security. Windows is and always will be the Swiss cheese of security issues. With Linux, I can harden to host much tighter and the windows host never can be pinged externally as its on a private Network behind VMware.

Wowfunhappy 5y ago

ZFS is perfectly useful on desktops, why not on Windows? I have data that I want to be preserved, and ZFS is great.

Timothycquinn 5y ago
Just a personal preference. I will only install windows on physical hardware for gaming or GPU intensive purposes. I don't see much advantage to using ZFS on a VM guest except for bitrot protection. This can be accomplished using SMB share on zfs dataset on the linux host. For my day to day programming and devops, I virtualize Windows Server for all my desktop work that I have to use windows for which is anything I cannot do on Linux which is not too much actually. Just use it for Remote admin of IPMI's, VCenter, IIS, SQL Server and Visual Studio for rare coding scenario's. On linux, I even use WinSCP which solves all my change request code syncing to remote servers. With ZFS on root, its awesome. Only time I ever lost a linux server is when windows update on another drive screwed up the boot sector on my linux drive. I cannot count the number of times a windows blue screened permanently for me. I swore to never depend on windows again and switched to Linux for good. May switch to OSX in the future once hardware becomes more reasonably priced (M1 chip appears to be awesome).