ZFS, the Last Word in File Systems?

guigouz writes "Sun is carrying a feature story about its new ZFS File System - ZFS, the dynamic new file system in Sun's Solaris 10 Operating System (Solaris OS), will make you forget everything you thought you knew about file systems. ZFS will be available on all Solaris 10 OS-supported platforms, and all existing applications will run with it. Moreover, ZFS complements Sun's storage management portfolio, including the Sun StorEdge QFS software, which is ideal for sharing business data."

Comments

billion billion?

[michael path]

From the article:

Unlimited scalability
As the world's first 128-bit file system, ZFS offers 16 billion billion times the capacity of 32- or 64-bit systems.

Microsoft immediately countered by saying WinFS will now support "twelveteen million billion times" as much storage as Sun's ZFS, and is "a bazillion times" more secure.

When reached for comment, Sun CEO Scott McNealy replied "neener neener". Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer responded by putting gum in Sun President Jonathan Schwartz's hair.

Re:billion billion?

[backslashdot]

a file systems for trillions of billions bytes of data?

What's it for?

Installing Windows ?

Re:billion billion?

[TedCheshireAcad]

16 billion billion times!!

pinky in corner of mouth.

Re:billion billion?

[HerculesMO]

Given the fact there are an infinite amount of numbers, any murmur from your mouth or any written gibberish can be conveyed to a number.

For example, 'sassdfadef' is a number I think is a 2 with one thousand 3s after it. It's really moot :)

Re:billion billion?

[hackwrench]

In fact, this page is just one big number.

Re:billion billion?

[Shadowlion]

Even including all the world's porn.

I dunno, man. I've got a lot of porn...

Re:billion billion?

[ArsonSmith]

Six point ohh times ten to the eighteenth.

Yer right doesn't roll the way a billion billion does.

Re:billion billion?

[So_Belecta]

Even easier, picture the population of China divided out, one per 1m^2, in a giant grid 1km x 1km, then turn it into a skyscraper with 1000 floors, each 3m to a total of 3km, with a layer of people on each floor. A truly massive number, but not un visualisable by any stretch of the imagination. Quite small, really, when you think about it, 6 of these skyscrapers could fit in an 6km square area.

Re:billion billion?

[Just Some Guy]

Our filesystem goes to eleven.

Re:billion billion?

[harrkev]

About the size of my student loan...

Out of letters.

[Kenja]

Of course ZFS is the last word in file systems. I mean, what can come after zed?

Re:Out of letters.

[Saint Stephen]

[fs, natch

Re:not alphabetically

[laird]

Nah, the ultimate filesystem has to be xyzzyfs! Your data magically appears... :-)

Why don't they just describe the capacity in

[wiredog]

Sagans?

Re:rearchitected

[sheriff_p]

Sadly Google returns no hits for rearchistrated

If it's the last word

[kick_in_the_eye]

If it's the last word, why are we even talking about it?

That's a lot of storage

[Gentoo Fan]

But of course you'll still have to have your boot image within the first 1024 cylinders.

Apparently...

[qtone42]

... ZFS will also make you forget everything you knew about English grammar.

"We've rethought everything and rearchitected it," says Jeff Bonwick

Rearchitected? WTF? Howsaboot "Redesigned?"

I'm still wrapping my brain around "adaptive endian-ness" as well.

--QTone

Re:Open source

[CrkHead]

It looks like Microsoft may have its new WinFS after all...

Re:Unlimited scalability

[szo]

How did you check it? Count up to it and then add one and see if you could? Just asking.

Thanks

Szo

Re:Two things...

[InadequateCamel]

I especially liked:
"Neither architecture pays a byte-swapping tax due to Sun's patent-pending "adaptive endian-ness" technology"

Adaptive endian-ness? What a stupid thing to include in a press release...there has to be a better way to say that.

Just announced by Sun:
"ANMF, our new file system (Ambiguous Nomenclature FS) will be filled with file cataloguing technology stuff that allows faster-ish operations that result in application goodness".

There already is an HFS as well.

[tepples]

Then why didn't IBM call its improved HFS "HFS Plus"? No wait, that would collide with Apple's HFS and HFS Plus, used in Mac OS.

It would appear that there can be only twenty-six distinct file systems. Then Microsoft went and innovated NTFS with Four-Letter-Word File System Technology, which actually was just a copy of IBM's HPFS, the first to introduce File System Named After a Competitor Technology.

Last Word?

[tedgyz]

It's a 128-bit filesystem, so doesn't that make it the last 8 words?

Technically....

[jolyonr]

The last word in file systems is "systems".

Thank you.

Boil the oceans, eh?

[Hukui]

Logically, the next question is if ZFS' 128 bits is enough. According to Bonwick, it has to be. "Populating 128-bit file systems would exceed the quantum limits of earth-based storage. You couldn't fill a 128-bit storage pool without boiling the oceans."

Well...I never really like the oceans anyways. They were always so wet.

Bill Gates just called....

[da5idnetlimit.com]

Says he needs a new wallet...

If Bill Gates had a nickel for every time Windows crashed... ..oh wait, he does.