Although I completely agree with your observations - sitting in a weird spot between very large and very small data, there are use cases where ZFS is extremely useful.
I'm regularly working with datasets in the single to two digit TB range. They need to sit on disk because the university doesn't have 10GE.
If I ran a regular raid and would encounter a disk or data error, I would have to re-create the data from tape archive or worse, lose it; and getting a replacement disk would surely take weeks.
So instead, I've been running raidz pools for ~10 years and have never skipped a beat.
I agree that this is not very typical, but it suits my needs perfectly.
I'm regularly working with datasets in the single to two digit TB range. They need to sit on disk because the university doesn't have 10GE.
If I ran a regular raid and would encounter a disk or data error, I would have to re-create the data from tape archive or worse, lose it; and getting a replacement disk would surely take weeks.
So instead, I've been running raidz pools for ~10 years and have never skipped a beat.
I agree that this is not very typical, but it suits my needs perfectly.