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Is there a way to do something like this?

zpool create newpool raidz /dev/disk1 /dev/disk2 ( /dev/disk3 + /dev/disk4 )

Assuming disk1 and disk2 are larger, and disk3 and 4 are smaller.

You can get the end result (presumably with a performance hit) by creating and mounting a pool with disk3 and 4, then creating a single large file on that, then doing

zpool create raidz /dev/disk1 /dev/disk2 /disk3and4/somebigfile

But I was wondering if that can be done directly.

I'm on Ubuntu.


Matt's comment is correct; I want to create a raidz of three devices: a disk, a disk, and (two disks mushed together to form a bigger disk).

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Could you rephrase the question? I can't really figure out what you're trying to do; but I suspect the answer is "it can be done", and we have plenty of ZFS experts wandering around. –  Chris S Jun 17 '13 at 15:03
Wow, that's hard to read! –  ewwhite Jun 17 '13 at 15:04
Can you guys be more specific about what's hard to understand? After thinking about it, I still can't figure out why it's not clear. –  James Moore Jun 17 '13 at 15:06
it is a bit hard to read. It sounds like you want to make a raidz from 3 disks, where the 3rd disk is two small disks 'stuck' together. What OS are you using? –  USD Matt Jun 17 '13 at 15:26
Personally (although it depends on how critical the data is) I would prefer to keep things simple and either use a simple raid10/mirror setup - zpool create pool mirror bigdisk1 bigdisk2 mirror smalldisk1 smalldisk2 or get another disk that matches disk 1 & 2. –  USD Matt Jun 17 '13 at 15:36
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You cant include a vdev in a vdev i'm afraid.

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