whatis zfs
ZFS
Also known as: OpenZFS, zpool
A combined filesystem and volume manager with end-to-end checksums, snapshots, compression, and software RAID, popular on NAS and servers.
What Is ZFS in Linux?
ZFS pools disks into a zpool and carves datasets out of it. Every block is checksummed, so silent corruption is detected and, with redundancy, repaired automatically during scrubs.
It is licensed under the CDDL, which keeps it out of the mainline kernel, so it ships as a separate module (OpenZFS). Proxmox and TrueNAS use it heavily.
Example
zpool status
zfs snapshot tank/data@nightlyLearn more about ZFS
- ZFS on Linux: Pools, Datasets, Snapshots, and the Licensing Problem ZFS checksums everything, snapshots instantly, and replicates efficiently. It also cannot be merged into the kernel, which shapes how you install and maintain it. Here is what you need to know before committing.
- Btrfs vs ZFS: Choosing a Copy-on-Write Filesystem Both do snapshots, checksums, and compression. The differences that decide it are licensing, memory behaviour, how each handles RAID, and which failure modes you can live with.