Windows 10: BUG: Why W10 install software destroy ZFS disks?

There is a big problem with the Win10 installation software because it destroys ZFS disks. The problem is that if you start the Win10 installation software from the USB stick, and just browse each disk connected to your PC, without installing Win10, and then reboot - the result will be that your ZFS disks are destroyed. Just by browsing ZFS disks, the Win10 software installation overwrites all ZFS disks. The install software should not write anything when browsing disks. But it does. Win10 install software is not well behaved as you expect it to just scan the disks, but in the scanning process it overwrites the ZFS disks and destroys them.


I wonder if W10 install software overwrites all non NTFS disks? Or does it just destroy ZFS disks? What happens if you connect a not common filesystem, say Hammer? Or reiserfs? Or BTRFS? Does the install software destroy them too?


How to replicate the bug:

1 Connect a harddisk formatted as ZFS to your PC

2 Boot the Win10 installation USB stick

3 Now, browse each disk. Do not install Win10.

4 Exit without doing any changes and reboot.


Result: Your ZFS disk is destroyed. Just by scanning all connected disks, the Win10 install software overwrites ZFS disks. You can not access the ZFS disk anymore. If you try to "zpool import" the disk, it will not work - there will be an error message that the ZFS disk is destroyed.


To create a ZFS disk, you can boot Ubuntu 2020.10 USB stick and create a ZFS disk directly without needing to install Ubuntu, because Ubuntu has ZFS preinstalled - I think?

:)

 

ZFS Questions

You might be able to find your answer here --> RAIDZ Configuration Requirements and Recommendations

Spoiler A RAIDZ configuration with N disks of size X with P parity disks can hold approximately (N-P)*X bytes and can withstand P device(s) failing before data integrity is compromised.

Start a single-parity RAIDZ (raidz) configuration at 3 disks (2+1)

• Start a double-parity RAIDZ (raidz2) configuration at 6 disks (4+2)
• Start a triple-parity RAIDZ (raidz3) configuration at 9 disks (6+3)
• (N+P) with P = 1 (raidz), 2 (raidz2), or 3 (raidz3) and N equals 2, 4, or 6
• The recommended number of disks per group is between 3 and 9. If you have more disks, use multiple groups.

Should I Configure a RAIDZ, RAIDZ-2, RAIDZ-3, or a Mirrored Storage Pool?

Spoiler A general consideration is whether your goal is to maximum disk space or maximum performance.

A RAIDZ configuration maximizes disk space and generally performs well when data is written and read in large chunks (128K or more).

• A RAIDZ-2 configuration offers better data availability, and performs similarly to RAIDZ. RAIDZ-2 has significantly better mean time to data loss (MTTDL) than either RAIDZ or 2-way mirrors.
• A RAIDZ-3 configuration maximizes disk space and offers excellent availability because it can withstand 3 disk failures.
• A mirrored configuration consumes more disk space but generally performs better with small random reads.
• If your I/Os are large, sequential, or write-mostly, then ZFS's I/O scheduler aggregates them in such a way that you'll get very efficient use of the disks regardless of the data replication model.

For better performance, a mirrored configuration is strongly favored over a RAIDZ configuration particularly for large, uncacheable, random read loads.
For those considering using RaidZ --> WHEN TO (AND NOT TO) USE RAID-Z

 

Can VIRUS destroy the Hard disk physically

Hi,

Viruses exploit the disk structures that your computer uses to start up by replacing, redirecting, or corrupting the code and data that start the operating system. It can also destroy the firmware of your hard disk. Virus infection can never destroy your
disk physically.

To address your concern about a virus infected HDD, we suggest that you contact your
Original Equipment Manufacturer of your hard disk. Inform them about the issue and the troubleshooting
steps that you've performed. They can help you to install the latest firmware on your HDD and it may synchronize it on your device's motherboard. The link provided includes information about
Original Equipment Manufacturers and how to find out an
OEM’s contact information.

If you have other concerns, don't hesitate to reply on this thread.

 

Windows 10 needs to add ZFS or btrfs support or add their features to ReFS and make ReFS available to all Windows 10 SKUs

Problem Statement:

• Storage Spaces' performance is horrific
  
• ReFS is available only on Windows 10 Enterprise/Pro for Workstations and above
  
• btrfs and ZFS have better performance
  
• btrfs and ZFS have more features
  
• btrfs and ZFS are available on Linux and BSD consumer desktop builds
  
• Many consumer users have large (double digit TB) storage requirements, especially in terms of backup (see
  
  r/Datahoarder,
  r/homelab, and
  r/HomeServer)
  
• *Windows users are currently very shortchanged when it comes to filesystems that can meet the above needs*
  

Mitigating factors for solutions:

• Linux (kernel) on Windows shows it's possible to implement *nix features in a Windows context
  
• The above is supported on the Windows 10 Pro SKU
  

Proposed solutions:

Solution Set 1

• Make ReFS available on all Windows 10 SKUs
  
• Fix Storage Spaces performance problems. ZFS and btrfs don't have them
  
• Add ZFS and btrfs features to Storage Spaces
  

Solution Set 2

• Add ZFS support to Windows 10
  

Solution Set 3

• Add btrfs support to Windows 10
  

There is a
matching request in the Windows 10 subreddit.