Things that ZFS was not designed to handle are things like being a SAN filesystem (like CXFS, Exagrid, Polyserve, and QFS). Perhaps I’m getting too technical, but the differences are big. From a storage perspective, ZFS is a step back from Sun’s QFS, because it is server centric, and doesn’t provide multi system use of the same storage (like a SAN / Cluster FS). Sure, it provides a lot of nice benefits, but the benefits it does provide aren’t needed by high-end storage most of the time anyway (except perhaps integrated volume management).

Again, in the consumer / low end IT space, that isn’t a problem. However in the high end, data center and HPC segments, that is a HUGE problem.

Thus, ZFS is a great fit for Apple, and only an OK fit for Sun. Sun’s biggest problem right now as I see it is their desire to force fit ZFS into everything, including places it doesn’t belong like high end data-centers with multi system access requirements, which is EXACTLY where something like QFS (or Polyserve, Clustre, etc. etc.) do belong.

nice story

i guess you know the wiki:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zfs

Thanks for the links, I’ll check them out.

Se,

I am a ZFS fan. I think it is great technology and I don’t agree that there are similar solutions available. Pools, verifiable data integrity, “free” snapshots, file systems as a practical management tool, fast software RAID - I think it is technology well worth getting excited about.

While I asked the question if the respondent might work for Microsoft, it could be any company who has the imagination to look at the potential of ZFS and the design moxie of Apple and think that the sleepy, ingrown world of storage is about to get a thorough shaking.

The larger issue is this: digital media and, if you will, a digital life, requires reliable digital storage. ZFS is a massive step forward from the timeworn paradigms of the past. It will take time, but I expect that Apple, as they already have with Time Machine, will demonstrate that the lasting problems of storage can be turned into competitive advantage with intuitively obvious solutions based on ZFS.

Commoditized RAID. CDP and recovery, all demonstrated on millions of Macs, will shake up the industry. It will make the pain Microsoft has suffered around Internet Explorer look like small beer, because, after all, we are talking about the user’s data, not their browsing experience.

I’ll probably expand on these thoughts later. Rest assured, I welcome honest dialogue on these issues, and I’m noodling away on them myself. In the meantime if you can point me to products that are equivalent to ZFS I’d be happy to look at them. Cheers!

Robin

ZFS is great technologie and i agree with you it will give Apple something Vista lacks after they lost WinFS. So it’s a advantage but it’s not ht ehloy grail of IT and there are lots of nice solutions for normal workstations to get the same amount of datasecurity.
It’s a pity everyone with another bias gets a MS tag. Do not kill the discussion just because the other partner has unwanted points. Flaming sometimes is nice, but do not become a Fanboy. please!

“Why ZFS?”
Montag, 18. Dezember 2006
http://www.c0t0d0s0.org/archives/2410-Why-ZFS.html
[Article excerpt]
“It´s really really cool that ZFS will be integrated into Leopard.
When you read forums like digg or slashdot there seems to be an utter
absence of creativity or knowledge, about the advantages someone gets
by using ZFS in client operating systems.
To get a view of the benefits, i will describe my workflows on
hahdafang, my primary mac@home:”

“Economics of ZFS” from the same blog:
http://www.c0t0d0s0.org/archives/2413-Economics-of-ZFS.html
[article referenced in the above post]
“Paul Murphy posted a good article about ZFS economics in his blog.”
[Source article]
“ZFS, HW RAID, and expensive mis-apprehensions”
Posted by Paul Murphy @ 12:15 am
http://blogs.zdnet.com/Murphy/?p=759
[article excerpt]
“Solaris 10 now ships with ZFS - and ZFS obsoletes both PC style RAID controllers and the external RAID controllers used with bigger systems.”

As for the “elephant’s graveyard” comment - that is a topic for a future post that I think you will enjoy.

Robin