Will XFS be removed in future builds for ZFS?

[Maz]

Im a home-user and enjoy the flexibility of using XFS with mixed drives and expanded drive pools which was the main attraction to Unraid in the first place.  I simply have no interest in switching over to ZFS. If XFS is removed future builds, i will no longer have interest.  A question For the Unraid dev team, What are the future intentions here regarding future your roadmap in supporting XFS???

Edited June 20, 2023 by Maz

[itimpi]

I have never heard even a hint that XFS might be removed.   The only reason I could see it ever being removed is if the Linux kernel dropped support for XFS (as is scheduled to happen for ReiserFS) but I think this is extremely unlikely.

 

is there any reason that you even thought XFS might be removed?

 

[Maz]

 

1 hour ago, itimpi said:

is there any reason that you even thought XFS might be removed?

My concern is because  ZFS does not have the same flexibility as XFS for Mixed drive size and pool expansion. Yes of course ZFS much more robust, but I think I possibly speak for many core users who purchased Unraid for the same reason which is that We just want XFS or a file system that allows easy expansion of drive pools and the ability to mix and match with dual parity and nothing more. I 'm hoping the original focus that made Unraid a better option for many,  wont be forgotten while jumping on the bandwagon in supporting  ZFS.  Again this is just my humble feedback for what its worth....  And, What happens if the Linux Kernel does in fact drop support for XFS???  are the core users of Unraid left out because XFS becomes depreciated in Linux?  I only bring this to the attention of the Unraid team in hope it can plan ahead with a clear path to support this functionality at its core, for those users who care about the conveniences of XFS, and nothing more. Thats what I enjoy most about using Unraid vs. the others. As a home user, I've been using it for years with XFS and have been content for what it is.

Edited June 20, 2023 by Maz

[JorgeB]

51 minutes ago, Maz said:

My concern is because  ZFS does not have the same flexibility as XFS for Mixed drive size and pool expansion.

It has the same flexibility when used for the array disks, but I'm sure LT has no plans to remove XFS.

[itimpi]

Limetech have already stated that they intend to make the current Unraid array effectively a pool type,  and that in the future a feature will be to have any mix of pool types you want.  The difference being that you will then be able to have BTRFS, ZFS and Unraid type pools in whatever combination of primary and secondary storage that you want.  Also note that Unraid type arrays/pools can already have individual disks in BTRFS or ZFS formats without losing the current easy expansion capability of the Unraid array.

 

Do not forget that you keep the flexibility you mention even in the extremely unlikely event you mention of XFS being removed from Linux (which I would think would be at least 10 years off if it ever happens at all).  After all it wil be about 5 years between the first announcement that ReiserFS would be deprecated and the date that it gets removed from Linux kernels.  That is despite the fact that ReiserFS has severe technical limitations (i.e. it cannot support modern large drives) that are not the case with XFS.