{
  "status": "shipping",
  "advantages": [],
  "limitations": [],
  "supersedes": [],
  "supersededBy": [],
  "firstSeen": null,
  "lastSeen": null,
  "updated": "2026-10-25",
  "slug": "zfs",
  "term": "ZFS",
  "aliases": [
    "OpenZFS",
    "Zettabyte File System"
  ],
  "definition": "ZFS is a copy-on-write filesystem and storage-management architecture that shares pooled space among datasets and integrates data-integrity checks.",
  "note": "The original design combines pooled allocation, transactional updates and block checksums rather than treating a filesystem as a fixed partition. [bonwick2003] In OpenZFS, a pool can contain multiple filesystem datasets and block volumes (zvols); these are not separate pools. [zfs-man]\n\nChecksums detect mismatches; repair requires a readable correct copy or sufficient reconstruction redundancy. Extra copies on one device can repair some corruption but cannot survive loss of that device. [checksum-guide] A same-pool snapshot retains earlier block references, so it is not an independent backup against pool loss. This backup distinction is an inference from the shared storage dependency. [snapshot-guide]",
  "related": [
    "vdev",
    "raidz",
    "zfs-intent-log",
    "zfs-transaction-group",
    "zfs-separate-log",
    "copy-on-write",
    "checksum",
    "snapshot"
  ],
  "citations": [
    {
      "id": "bonwick2003",
      "title": "Jeff Bonwick et al. The Zettabyte File System (2003), architecture and design status",
      "url": "https://web.mit.edu/6.033/www/papers/zfs.pdf",
      "accessed": "2026-10-25"
    },
    {
      "id": "zfs-man",
      "title": "OpenZFS 2.3: zfs(8), filesystems, volumes, snapshots and bookmarks",
      "url": "https://openzfs.github.io/openzfs-docs/man/v2.3/8/zfs.8.html",
      "accessed": "2026-10-25"
    },
    {
      "id": "checksum-guide",
      "title": "OpenZFS: Checksums and Their Use in ZFS",
      "url": "https://openzfs.github.io/openzfs-docs/Basic%20Concepts/Data%20Storage/Checksums.html",
      "accessed": "2026-10-25"
    },
    {
      "id": "snapshot-guide",
      "title": "OpenZFS: Snapshots, Clones and Bookmarks",
      "url": "https://openzfs.github.io/openzfs-docs/Basic%20Concepts/Datasets/Snapshots%20and%20Clones.html",
      "accessed": "2026-10-25"
    }
  ],
  "provenance": [
    "This record describes the shared ZFS architecture, with current semantics scoped to the cited OpenZFS documentation.",
    "The 2003 design paper supplies architectural context, not current support for arbitrary vdev nesting or a current performance claim.",
    "No pool, failure injection or recovery experiment was performed."
  ]
}