It appears I did an upgrade rather than a dist-upgrade.
Start-Date: 2018-02-27 18:54:09
Commandline: apt-get upgrade
Upgrade: libdns-export162:amd64 (1:9.10.3.dfsg.P4-12.3+deb9u3, 1:9.10.3.dfsg.P4-12.3+deb9u4), libpve-access-control:amd64 (5.0-7, 5.0-8), libisccfg140:amd64 (1:9.10.3.dfsg.P4-12.3+deb9u3, 1:9.10.3.dfsg.P4-12.3+deb9u4), linux-libc-dev:amd64 (4.9.65-3+deb9u2, 4.9.82-1+deb9u2), cpp-6:amd64 (6.3.0-18, 6.3.0-18+deb9u1), pve-qemu-kvm:amd64 (2.9.1-5, 2.9.1-9), libirs141:amd64 (1:9.10.3.dfsg.P4-12.3+deb9u3, 1:9.10.3.dfsg.P4-12.3+deb9u4), bind9-host:amd64 (1:9.10.3.dfsg.P4-12.3+deb9u3, 1:9.10.3.dfsg.P4-12.3+deb9u4), dnsutils:amd64 (1:9.10.3.dfsg.P4-12.3+deb9u3, 1:9.10.3.dfsg.P4-12.3+deb9u4), pve-docs:amd64 (5.1-15, 5.1-16), pve-ha-manager:amd64 (2.0-4, 2.0-5), zfs-initramfs:amd64 (0.7.3-pve1~bpo9, 0.7.6-pve1~bpo9), libisc160:amd64 (1:9.10.3.dfsg.P4-12.3+deb9u3, 1:9.10.3.dfsg.P4-12.3+deb9u4), pve-container:amd64 (2.0-18, 2.0-19), libquadmath0:amd64 (6.3.0-18, 6.3.0-18+deb9u1), gcc-6-base:amd64 (6.3.0-18, 6.3.0-18+deb9u1), pve-cluster:amd64 (5.0-19, 5.0-20), libgcc1:amd64 (1:6.3.0-18, 1:6.3.0-18+deb9u1), zfsutils-linux:amd64 (0.7.3-pve1~bpo9, 0.7.6-pve1~bpo9), libisc-export160:amd64 (1:9.10.3.dfsg.P4-12.3+deb9u3, 1:9.10.3.dfsg.P4-12.3+deb9u4), libvorbisenc2:amd64 (1.3.5-4, 1.3.5-4+deb9u1), spl:amd64 (0.7.3-pve1~bpo9, 0.7.6-pve1~bpo9), libgfortran3:amd64 (6.3.0-18, 6.3.0-18+deb9u1), libzfs2linux:amd64 (0.7.3-pve1~bpo9, 0.7.6-pve1~bpo9), liblwres141:amd64 (1:9.10.3.dfsg.P4-12.3+deb9u3, 1:9.10.3.dfsg.P4-12.3+deb9u4), libpve-common-perl:amd64 (5.0-25, 5.0-28), qemu-server:amd64 (5.0-18, 5.0-22), iproute2:amd64 (4.10.0-1, 4.13.0-3), libdns162:amd64 (1:9.10.3.dfsg.P4-12.3+deb9u3, 1:9.10.3.dfsg.P4-12.3+deb9u4), libzpool2linux:amd64 (0.7.3-pve1~bpo9, 0.7.6-pve1~bpo9), libxml2:amd64 (2.9.4+dfsg1-2.2+deb9u1, 2.9.4+dfsg1-2.2+deb9u2), libisccc140:amd64 (1:9.10.3.dfsg.P4-12.3+deb9u3, 1:9.10.3.dfsg.P4-12.3+deb9u4), libvorbis0a:amd64 (1.3.5-4, 1.3.5-4+deb9u1), libbind9-140:amd64 (1:9.10.3.dfsg.P4-12.3+deb9u3, 1:9.10.3.dfsg.P4-12.3+deb9u4), libnvpair1linux:amd64 (0.7.3-pve1~bpo9, 0.7.6-pve1~bpo9), libtasn1-6:amd64 (4.10-1.1, 4.10-1.1+deb9u1), libuutil1linux:amd64 (0.7.3-pve1~bpo9, 0.7.6-pve1~bpo9), libstdc++6:amd64 (6.3.0-18, 6.3.0-18+deb9u1), libcurl3-gnutls:amd64 (7.52.1-5+deb9u3, 7.52.1-5+deb9u4), lxcfs:amd64 (2.0.8-1, 2.0.8-2)
End-Date: 2018-02-27 18:55:08
Memory is not an issue for me in the system that uses dedupe. I agree with the conclusion that dedupe is not worth it for most people that are using spinny disk media. However flash is expensive and if you need the fast IO in heaps, memory becomes pretty cheap. I can get 32GB of ECC memory for the price of 1TB of flash that's fast and will handle the writes I require. Sata drives generally give up with the loads that I expect. At that point it becomes a tradeoff, and I am limited much more by PCIe availability than the amount of ram I can shove in 16 slots.
Cloning offline and online causes the issue. I initially did an online clone and figured it was a byproduct of locking up the image. I followed it up with an offline clone and had the same issue. I'll investigate into bwlimit. Thanks for that.