# Seagate SmartAlign and ZFS raidz1



## arapaima (Oct 21, 2012)

I got 3 x Seagate Barracuda 2TB (ST2000DM001) which I'm planning to use in a ZFS raidz1 setup.
How is SmartAlign technology going to affect me? Bad idea?
What's your thoughts/experiences with these disks in raidz1 setup?



> SeagateÂ® SmartAlign technology is hard drive firmware that manages read-
> modify-write conditions resulting from partition misalignment conditions which
> are associated with the use of 4K sector drives, known as Advanced Format.


source: http://www.seagate.com/docs/pdf/whitepaper/mb_smartalign_technology_faq.pdf


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## wblock@ (Oct 22, 2012)

SmartAlign is supposed to automatically align writes.  I've never seen a description of what it actually does, though.  Best would be to ignore it and follow the standard procedures for aligning partitions and getting ZFS to use 4K blocks.


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## arapaima (Oct 22, 2012)

Me neither. I'll go for your suggestion.
Thanks!


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