zfs encryption + boot + world + dog

[Matthew Crews]

On 6/24/21 7:29 AM, Stephen Partington via PLUG-discuss wrote:
> I would +1 the zfs arrangement on this configuration as well. I am still
> rather new to zfs filesystems, but my VM host is really happy with zfs.
> My configuration using zraid and a pair of SSD's for storage tiering has
> been very nice as a balance.
>
> For a laptop that may meet your needs, I would suggest looking into the
> Thinkpad T51g. 8 core CPU, Nvidia 2070 or 2080 graphics (nice to have
> performance graphics without having to deal with Quadro prices), 4
> SODIMM slots, 2 thunderbolt, 1USBc connected to the GPU, 2 M.2 slots, a
> fingerprint sensor, and various workstation extras. Let me know if you
> have any questions as I happen to have one.

If you're looking for a laptop just to try out ZFS, the only real
requirements is that you have 1GB RAM for every 1TB of storage, as ZFS
heavily utilizes RAM caching.

Almost any available laptop you find these days, other than ultra cheap
Chromebooks, will have sufficient RAM to try out ZFS on top of your
Linux distro of choice.

One exception is if you plan on using deduplication; then the RAM
requirements jump to 5GB RAM per 1TB of storage.

Its also recommended, but not required, that you use ECC Memory (but you
will likely NOT find ECC memory on a laptop).

-Matt