A pool name is an API. Services, replication jobs, and inventory all address storage through it — so it must only encode things that never change. The performance tier never changes. Everything else does.
The convention
Three names, used identically on every node that has that tier of storage:| Pool | Tier | Backing |
|---|---|---|
rpool | Boot / system | The OS disk — Proxmox’s ZFS-on-root install-time default, kept as-is |
bulk | Bulk capacity | Spinning-disk raidz — large, slow, cheap |
fast | Low-latency | Flash (SSD / NVMe) that is not the boot disk |
proxmox-2-style node with an HDD array gets bulk; a node with spare flash gets fast; every ZFS-boot node already has rpool.
What a pool name must never encode
The test for a candidate name: does this fact survive a hardware change?| Anti-pattern | Example | Why it rots |
|---|---|---|
| Node-named | hdd2, pool-node3 | Breaks the moment a dataset or service migrates; the path stops being portable |
| RAID-named | raidz2pool, mirrorpool | Becomes a lie after a rebuild to a different layout |
| Count/size-named | 3x6tb | Becomes a lie after the first expansion or drive swap |
| Pet-named | tank, dozer | Carries zero information; every lookup needs tribal knowledge |
The payoff: identical paths everywhere
Because the pool name is the same on every node, a dataset’s full path is node-agnostic:bulk/datameans “the bulk media dataset” on whichever node currently holds it. Moving the service to another node changes zero mount configuration.- Replication targets line up by construction —
bulk/dataon the source replicates tobulk/replica/<source>/dataon the destination, and a restored replica is byte-identical at the same path it had at home. - Inventory and IaC reference one path per dataset, not one per node × dataset.
What this connects to
ZFS backup & replication
The snapshot and replication layers that ride on these pools.
Media storage hardlinks
The single-filesystem layout that lives at bulk/data.
VMID & network tier model
The same encode-only-what-never-changes philosophy, applied to guest identity.
Homelab
The hardware behind the pools.