The professional filesystem ZFS
Revolutionary
ZFS is a first-class filesystem for big iron, but for various reasons, it is still waiting for widespread Linux adoption.
With over 15 years of development, ZFS [1] is one of the oldest of the current Unix-like filesystems. The ZFS filesystem was originally developed by Sun Microsystems for the Solaris operating system and was published for the first time in 2005. ZFS was originally intended as a closed-source, proprietary filesystem for high-end Solaris storage environments.
When Sun open-sourced Solaris in 2005 with the OpenSolaris project, ZFS went with it. Oracle acquired Sun in 2009 and, in 2010, Oracle declared it was returning ZFS to a closed-source development model. Thanks to the beauty of open source licensing, the ZFS community continued to develop and maintain the open source version of ZFS. The umbrella project for ZFS development is now known as OpenZFS.
The open version of ZFS is licensed under the Common Development and Distribution License (CDDL) [2]. The CDDL is recognized as a Free and Open Source license by the Free Software Foundation and the Open Source Initiative, but the CDDL has limited copyleft protection and is thus considered incompatible with the Linux kernel's GPL. Because of this incompatibility, it isn't easy for developers to integrate ZFS directly with the Linux kernel. Although various workarounds are possible, the license incompatibility has slowed ZFS adoption in Linux. As you will learn in this article, ZFS is typically implemented as a separate add-on module or as a Filesystem in Userspace (FUSE) [3] in Linux environments.
[...]
Buy this article as PDF
(incl. VAT)
Buy Linux Magazine
US / Canada
UK / Australia
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.
News
-
USB4 Maintainer Leaves Intel
Michael Jamet, one of the primary maintainers of USB4 and Thunderbolt drivers, has left Intel, leaving a gaping hole for the Linux community to deal with.
-
Budgie 10.9.3 Now Available
The latest version of this elegant and configurable Linux desktop aligns with changes in Gnome 49.
-
KDE Linux Alpha Available for Daring Users
It's official, KDE Linux has arrived, but it's not quite ready for prime time.
-
AMD Initiates Graphics Driver Updates for Linux Kernel 6.18
This new AMD update focuses on power management, display handling, and hardware support for Radeon GPUs.
-
AerynOS Alpha Release Available
With a choice of several desktop environments, AerynOS 2025.08 is almost ready to be your next operating system.
-
AUR Repository Still Under DDoS Attack
Arch User Repository continues to be under a DDoS attack that has been going on for more than two weeks.
-
RingReaper Malware Poses Danger to Linux Systems
A new kind of malware exploits modern Linux kernels for I/O operations.
-
Happy Birthday, Linux
On August 25, Linux officially turns 34.
-
VirtualBox 7.2 Has Arrived
With early support for Linux kernel 6.17 and other new additions, VirtualBox 7.2 is a must-update for users.
-
Linux Mint 22.2 Beta Available for Testing
Some interesting new additions and improvements are coming to Linux Mint. Check out the Linux Mint 22.2 Beta to give it a test run.