Run ZFS on Linux
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Storage management<br>90<br>linux<br>Although ZFS exists in an operating system whose future is at risk,<br>it is easily one of the most advanced, feature-rich file systems in existence.<br>It incorporates variable block sizes, compression, encryption, de-duplication,<br>snapshots, clones, and (as the name implies) support for massive capacities.<br>Get to know the concepts behind ZFS and learn how you can use ZFS today<br>on Linux using Filesystem in Userspace (FUSE).<br>2011-01-19<br>article
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Contents
Introduction<br>Introducing ZFS<br>Using ZFS on Linux today<br>Other Linux-ZFS<br>possibilities<br>Going further<br>Downloadable resources<br>Related topics<br>Comments
Run ZFS on Linux
M. Tim Jones<br>Published on January 19, 2011
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Connect with Tim<br>Tim is<br>one of our most popular and prolific authors. Browse all of Tim's articles on developerWorks. Check out Tim's profile and connect with him, other authors, and fellow<br>readers in My developerWorks.
Linux has an interesting relationship with file systems. Because<br>Linux is open, it tends to be a key development platform both for<br>next-generation file systems and for new, innovative file system ideas.<br>Two interesting recent examples include the massively scalable Ceph and<br>the continuous snapshotting file system nilfs2 (and of course, evolutions<br>in workhorse file systems such as the fourth extended file system [ext4]).<br>It's also an archaeological site for file systems of the past—DOS<br>VFAT, Macintosh(HPFS), VMS ODS-2, and Plan-9's remote file system<br>protocol. But with all of the file systems you'll find supported within<br>Linux, there's one that generates considerable interest because of the<br>features it implements: Oracle's Zettabyte File System (ZFS).<br>The ZFS was designed and developed by Sun Microsystems (under Jeff Bonwick)<br>and was first announced in 2004, with integration into Sun Solaris<br>occurring in 2005). Although pairing the most popular open operating<br>system with the most talked-about, feature-rich file system would be an<br>ideal match, licensing issues have restricted the integration. Linux is<br>protected by the GNU General Public License (GPL), while ZFS is covered by<br>Sun's Common Development and Distribution License (CDDL). These license<br>agreements have different goals and introduce restrictions that conflict.<br>Fortunately, that doesn't mean that you as a Linux user can't enjoy ZFS<br>and the capabilities it provides.<br>This article explores two methods for using ZFS in Linux. The first uses<br>the Filesystem in Userspace (FUSE) system to push the ZFS file system into<br>user space to avoid the licensing issues. The second method is a native<br>port of ZFS for integration into the Linux kernel while avoiding the<br>intellectual property issues.<br>Where can you find<br>ZFS?<br>Today, you can find ZFS natively within OpenSolaris (also covered under<br>the CDDL) but also in other operating systems that have complementary<br>licenses. For example, you can find ZFS in FreeBSD (since 2007). ZFS<br>was once part of Darwin (a derivative of Berkeley Software<br>Distribution [BSD], NeXTSTEP, and CMU's Mach 3 microkernel) but has<br>since been removed.
Introducing ZFS<br>Calling ZFS a file system is a bit of a misnomer, as it is much more than<br>that in the traditional sense. ZFS combines the concepts of a logical<br>volume manager with a very feature rich and massively scalable file<br>system. Let's begin by exploring some of the principles on which ZFS is<br>based. First, ZFS uses a pooled storage model instead of the traditional<br>volume-based model. This means that ZFS views storage as a shared pool<br>that can be dynamically allocated (and shrunk) as needed. This is<br>advantageous over the traditional model, where file systems reside on<br>volumes and an independent volume manager is used to administer these<br>assets. Embedded within ZFS is an implementation of an important set of<br>features such as snapshots, copy-on-write clones, continuous integrity<br>checking, and data protection through RAID-Z. Going further, it's possible<br>to use your own favorite file system (such as ext4) on top of a ZFS<br>volume. This means that you get those features of ZFS such as snapshots on<br>an independent file system (that likely doesn't support them directly).<br>But ZFS isn't just a collection of features that make up a useful file<br>system. Rather, it's a collection of integrated and complementary features<br>that make it an outstanding file system. Let's look at some of these<br>features, and then see some of them in action.<br>Storage pools<br>As discussed earlier, ZFS incorporates a volume-management function to<br>abstract underlying physical storage devices to the file system. Rather<br>than viewing physical block devices directly, ZFS operates on...