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
-
Cairo Dock 3.6 Now Available for More Compositors
If you're a fan of third-party desktop docks, then the latest release of Cairo Dock with Wayland support is for you.
-
System76 Unleashes Pop!_OS 24.04 Beta
System76's first beta of Pop!_OS 24.04 is an impressive feat.
-
Linux Kernel 6.17 is Available
Linus Torvalds has announced that the latest kernel has been released with plenty of core improvements and even more hardware support.
-
Kali Linux 2025.3 Released with New Hacking Tools
If you're a Kali Linux fan, you'll be glad to know that the third release of this famous pen-testing distribution is now available with updates for key components.
-
Zorin OS 18 Beta Available for Testing
The latest release from the team behind Zorin OS is ready for public testing, and it includes plenty of improvements to make it more powerful, user-friendly, and productive.
-
Fedora Linux 43 Beta Now Available for Testing
Fedora Linux 43 Beta ships with Gnome 49 and KDE Plasma 6.4 (and other goodies).
-
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.