OpenZFS
OpenZFS is an open-source implementation of the ZFS file system and volume manager initially developed by Sun Microsystems for the Solaris operating system and now maintained by the OpenZFS Project. It supports features like data compression, data deduplication, copy-on-write clones, snapshots, and RAID-Z. It also supports the creation of virtual devices, which allows for the creation of file systems that span multiple disks.
| Initial release | Ported to various systems between 2006 and 2010. Forked from OpenSolaris August 2010 |
|---|---|
| Stable release | |
| Preview release | 2.2.0-rc5
/ October 8, 2023 |
| Repository | github |
| Written in | C |
| Operating system | OpenSolaris, illumos distributions, OpenIndiana, FreeBSD, Mac OS X Server 10.5 (only read-only support), NetBSD, Linux via third-party kernel module ("ZFS on Linux") or ZFS-FUSE, OSv |
| License | open source CDDL |
| Website | openzfs |
| Formation | 2013 |
|---|---|
| Products | OpenZFS filesystem |
Parent organization | Software in the Public Interest |
| Website | openzfs |
A capability of OpenZFS is its self-healing capabilities. The file system can detect and correct errors while in use, without the need for a dedicated file system checker. This means that it can be used in mission-critical applications that require high availability.
OpenZFS is widely used in enterprise and data center environments, as well as in consumer devices like network-attached storage (NAS) devices. It is available for many operating systems, including Linux, FreeBSD, macOS, and Windows (through third-party solutions). OpenZFS is licensed under the CDDL (Common Development and Distribution License), which allows for both open-source and commercial use.
Founding members of OpenZFS include Matt Ahrens, one of the main architects of ZFS. As of 2019, OpenZFS (on some platforms such as FreeBSD) is gradually being pivoted to be based upon ZFS on Linux, which has developed faster than other variants of OpenZFS and contains new features not yet ported to those other versions. The merged code-base will include a number of new features, performance enhancements, and is proposed to be known as OpenZFS 2.0.