ZFS is an advanced file system and volume manager that provides data integrity, reliability, and scalability. It combines data storage, management, snapshots, deduplication, and other features. ZFS can be run on Linux via ports or dedicated distributions and offers benefits for storage services and disaster recovery.

1. ZFS on Linux
Mircea MITU – Co-Founder IT Assist / CTO
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2. ZFS (quotes)
● “ZFS is the most advanced file system ever
invented” - zfs-fuse.net
● “ZFS is a new kind of file system that provides
simple administration, transactional semantics,
end-to-end data integrity, and immense
scalability” - opensolaris.org
● “ZFS is a combined file system and logical
volume manager designed by Sun
Microsystems. “ - wikipedia.org
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3. ZFS (translation)
● Storage manager
● Modern
● Smart
● Reliable
● Efficient
● Scalable
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4. ZFS attributes
● Storage manager:
● Storage pools
– Devices, Blocks, Files
– Raid arrays
zpool create pool raidz /dev/dsk1 /tmp/file cache /dev/shm/zfscache
● Volume Manager
– Snapshots, clones, volumes
● File System
zfs create pool/root; zfs snapshot pool/root@today
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5. ZFS attributes
● Reliable
● Checksums
● Intent log
● Detects & protects against silent disk corruption (bit
rot)
● Avoids RAID5 write hole
Story: http://blogs.sun.com/elowe/entry/zfs_saves_the_day_ta
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6. ZFS attributes
● Efficient
● Copy-on-write
● Deduplication
● Dynamic stripping
● Cache
● Scalable
● 128bit File System
● “640K ought to be enough for anybody”
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7. Cool stuff
● Instant snapshots: zfs snapshot pool/filesystem@2011-02-24
● Real Copy-on-Write
● Clone/rollback snapshots
● Cache on dedicated fast device (SSD)
● Filesystem migration (to another pool / host)
● zfs send pool/filesystem@2011-02-24 | ssh newhost zfs
receive pool/newfs
● Dynamic stripping (hot add/remove/replace devices from pools)
● Disc scrubbing
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8. NAME USED AVAIL REFER MOUNTPOINT
zfspool/zabbix 157G 2.53T 46.3G /z
zfspool/zabbix@week3 20.7G - 45.5G -
zfspool/zabbix@week2 2.93G - 45.7G -
zfspool/zabbix@week1 2.91G - 45.7G -
zfspool/zabbix@week0 14.9G - 45.9G -
zfspool/zabbix@day7 5.47G - 46.1G -
zfspool/zabbix@day6 3.20G - 46.1G -
zfspool/zabbix@day5 3.65G - 46.1G -
zfspool/zabbix@day4 3.09G - 46.2G -
zfspool/zabbix@day3 3.69G - 46.2G -
zfspool/zabbix@day2 3.21G - 46.2G -
zfspool/zabbix@day1 3.07G - 46.2G -
zfspool/zabbix@day0 0 - 46.3G -
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9. How to get ZFS running on Linux
● On your distro
● ZFS-FUSE.net
● Userland (FUSE) implementation
● Not very fast but stable & easy to run
● ZFSonLINUX.org: native, sources
● KQStor.com (native)
● bins for RHEL6/Fedora 14 & Ubuntu 10.04/10.10
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10. How to get ZFS running on Linux
● Dedicated distros
● Debian GNU/kFreeBSD
● Nexenta (Ubuntu + OpenSolaris kernel)
● OpenSolaris
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11. Benchmarks (Phoronix)
● Benchmarks Of The Official KQ ZFS Linux
Module: http://xurl.ro/1nq0 (Jan 2011)
● Debian GNU/kFreeBSD Benchmarks With Its
New Kernel: http://xurl.ro/75n0 (Oct 2010)
● Running The Native ZFS Linux Kernel Module,
Plus Benchmarks: http://xurl.ro/73020 (Nov 2010)
● Benchmarks Of ZFS-FUSE On Linux Against
EXT4, Btrfs: http://xurl.ro/67p0 (Aug 2010)
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12. ZFS @ IT Assist
● Used in a Disaster Recovery Service
● Offsite ZFS storage for hundreds of servers
● Major benefits:
● High density (due to Copy-on-Write)
● Reliable (fault tolerant, atomic write, checksums)
● Ability to instantly clone current/previous versions of
critical servers
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13. IT Assist - IT as a Service
● Complete IT Outsourcing
● Dedicated services (i.e. Disaster Recovery)
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14. Contact
Thank you for your attention
More information:
Mircea MITU <mircea.mitu@itassist.ro>
Co-Founder / Chief Technical Officer
IT Assist - Your IT Department
www.itassist.ro
twitter.com/mirceamitu
twitter.com/itassist
www.itassist.ro