Migrating from QNAP QTS to QuTS Hero considerations?

[CZappe]

I have a couple of aging QNAP QTS servers that I've been using as shared NFS file storage for several standalone Proxmox nodes. I'm looking into replacing these QNAPs with newer models running the ZFS-based QuTS Hero operating system. I know this will entail some changes to our current Proxmox configurations, particularly the conversion of our VM disks out of the QCOW2 format, since ZFS is a COW filesystem (and stacking COWs, as I have come to find, is generally inadvisable ). There are a couple of areas where I'm not sure how to best adapt to a ZFS system:

1. Does ZFS over iSCSI offer better performance compared to a standard ZFS storage configuration in Proxmox? Is the NAS drive type a factor in this (we currently use SATA HDDs for mass storage in our QTS QNAP devices).
2. Is ZFS incompatible with Proxmox backups? Our current NFS file storage is configured to host both Disk Images and VZDump Backup Files, but backup storage does not seem to be an option for a ZFS Pool in Proxmox VE 7.4. Would employing Proxmox Backup Server (on our task list) resolve this issue?

I'm curious if there are other considerations, caveats, and possibilities inherent in a move from QTS to QuTS Hero for VM disk storage that others on this forum have experience with or encountered in the past?

Thanks, and Happy New Year!

 

[bbgeek17]

I'm looking into replacing these QNAPs with newer models running the ZFS-based QuTS Hero operating system.

Generally it does not matter what underlying filesystem the NAS appliance is using. It would usually be completely obfuscated by the GUI/CLI.

I know this will entail some changes to our current Proxmox configurations, particularly the conversion of our VM disks out of the QCOW2 format

If you are using NFS, you can continue to do so and dont need to change anything.

Does ZFS over iSCSI offer better performance compared to a standard ZFS storage configuration in Proxmox?

ZFS is a local filesystem to NAS. The question you wanted to ask: Would exporting a ZFS volume via iSCSI be any faster than exporting one via NFS. The answer is, as usual, it depends. It will depend on many factors, including: iSCSI implementation, ZFS configuration, network, client, pattern of access, etc. Additionally, ZFS/iSCSI access is likely not compatible with Qnap appliance.

Is the NAS drive type a factor in this (we currently use SATA HDDs for mass storage in our QTS QNAP devices).

drive type is always a factor in performance expectations. The slower the disks the lower the performance.

Is ZFS incompatible with Proxmox backups?

ZFS, when implementing locally in Proxmox, is a block storage. The backup target must be a file storage. You can use ZFS as backup target but it must be filesystem formatted.
Keep in mind that you will not be accessing ZFS directly on your NAS, so for Proxmox it wont be any kind of ZFS.

Would employing Proxmox Backup Server (on our task list) resolve this issue?

PBS is a separate appliance that stores backups on available filesystem, local to PBS. If all your storage on PVE is block, then PBS will help with backup storage.

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