Basics
ZFS is a revolutionary file-system with nearly unlimited capacity and superior data security thanks to copy on write, raid z1-3 without the raid5/6 write hole problem, with a online filecheck/ refresh feature and the capability to create nearly unlimited data snapshots without delay or initial space consumption. ZFS Boot snapshots are the way to go back to former OS-states. ZFS is stable, used in Enterprise Storage Systems.
Features like Deduplication, online Encryption (from ZFS V.31), Triple Parity Raid and Hybrid Storage with SSD Read/ Write Cache Drives are State of the Art and just a included ZFS property. Volume- Raid and Storage Management are Part of any ZFS System and used with just two commands zfs and zpool. ZFS is now part not only in Solaris derived Systems, but also available in BSD, OSX and Linux under the roof of Open-ZFS.
But Solaris derived Systems are more. ZFS is not just a file-system-add-on. Sun had developed a complete Enterprise Operating System with a unique integration of ZFS with services like a real AD Windows ACL compatible and fast SMB and a fast NFS Server as a ZFS property. Comstar, the included iSCSI Framework is fast and flexible, usable for complex SAN configurations. With Crossbow, the virtual Switch Framework you can build complex virtual network switches in software, Dtrace helps to analyse the system. Service-management is done the via the unique svcadm-tool. Lightweight virtualisation can be done on application level with Zones (KVM, Solaris Zones, LX/ Linux Container). All these features are developed and supported from Sun- now Oracle or Illumos, perfectly integrated into the OS with the same handling and without compatibility problems between them - the main reason why i prefer ZFS on Solaris derived systems-.
Since Oracle bought Sun and closed the OpenSolaris project, there are now the following Operating Systems based on (the last free) OpenSolaris that was forked to Illumos
1. some commercial options
- Oracle Solaris 11
the fastest and most feature rich ZFS server at the moment, the only one with encryption
I support it with my free napp-it Web-Gui
-NexentaStor Enterprise Storage-Appliance (based on llumos)
2. some free options
-OpenIndiana Hipster (the free successor of OpenSolaris), based on Illumos
always dev state, usable for Desktop or Server use. I support it with my napp-it Web-Gui.
download http://openindiana.org
The Illumos Project
is a fork of the OpenSolaris Kernel with the Kernel/ OS-functions and some base tools. Illumos is intended to be completely free and open source. Illumos is not an distribution but the common upstream of the main distributions NexentaCore, OpenIndiana, OmniOS and SmartOS.
3. Use cases:
Although there is a desktop-option with OpenIndiana, Solaris was developed by Sun to be a Enterprise Server OS with stability and performance at first place, best for:
NAS
-Windows SMB Fileserver (AD, ACL kompatible, Snaps via previous version )
SAN
-NFS and FC/ iSCSI Storage
Web
-AMP Stack (Apache, mySQL, PHP)
Backup and Archiv
-Snapshots , Online File-Checks with Data Refresh , Checksum
Some Systems can be used as appliances and managed remotely via Browser and Web-Gui. They run on real hardware or virtualized, best on ESXi with pci-passthrough to SAS Controller and disks.
4. Hardware:
See my build examples
http://www.napp-it.org/doc/downloads/napp-it_build_examples.pdf
5. manual ZFS Server Installation
Download the ISO or USB image, boot from it and install the OS to boot-drive.
Use the whole boot disk. Installation is easy.
see http://napp-it.org/doc/downloads/napp-it.pdf
You can also install the OS as a virtualized SAN.
(All-In-One, Virtual Server + SAN + virtual network switch in a box)
see http://napp-it.org/doc/downloads/napp-in-one.pdf
6. After OS setup, setup the storage appliance (CLI as root)
wget -O - www.napp-it.org/nappit | perl
You can now manage your NAS-appliance via http://ip:81
thats all. Install + setup your ZFS-Server -ready to use- in about 30 min.
7. napp-it to Go
As an alternative to the manual setup, you can use preconfigured images, either a template for ESXi or system images that you can clone to a new Sata boot SSD.
Gea
ZFS is a revolutionary file-system with nearly unlimited capacity and superior data security thanks to copy on write, raid z1-3 without the raid5/6 write hole problem, with a online filecheck/ refresh feature and the capability to create nearly unlimited data snapshots without delay or initial space consumption. ZFS Boot snapshots are the way to go back to former OS-states. ZFS is stable, used in Enterprise Storage Systems.
Features like Deduplication, online Encryption (from ZFS V.31), Triple Parity Raid and Hybrid Storage with SSD Read/ Write Cache Drives are State of the Art and just a included ZFS property. Volume- Raid and Storage Management are Part of any ZFS System and used with just two commands zfs and zpool. ZFS is now part not only in Solaris derived Systems, but also available in BSD, OSX and Linux under the roof of Open-ZFS.
But Solaris derived Systems are more. ZFS is not just a file-system-add-on. Sun had developed a complete Enterprise Operating System with a unique integration of ZFS with services like a real AD Windows ACL compatible and fast SMB and a fast NFS Server as a ZFS property. Comstar, the included iSCSI Framework is fast and flexible, usable for complex SAN configurations. With Crossbow, the virtual Switch Framework you can build complex virtual network switches in software, Dtrace helps to analyse the system. Service-management is done the via the unique svcadm-tool. Lightweight virtualisation can be done on application level with Zones (KVM, Solaris Zones, LX/ Linux Container). All these features are developed and supported from Sun- now Oracle or Illumos, perfectly integrated into the OS with the same handling and without compatibility problems between them - the main reason why i prefer ZFS on Solaris derived systems-.
Since Oracle bought Sun and closed the OpenSolaris project, there are now the following Operating Systems based on (the last free) OpenSolaris that was forked to Illumos
1. some commercial options
- Oracle Solaris 11
the fastest and most feature rich ZFS server at the moment, the only one with encryption
I support it with my free napp-it Web-Gui
-NexentaStor Enterprise Storage-Appliance (based on llumos)
2. some free options
-OpenIndiana Hipster (the free successor of OpenSolaris), based on Illumos
always dev state, usable for Desktop or Server use. I support it with my napp-it Web-Gui.
download http://openindiana.org
The Illumos Project
is a fork of the OpenSolaris Kernel with the Kernel/ OS-functions and some base tools. Illumos is intended to be completely free and open source. Illumos is not an distribution but the common upstream of the main distributions NexentaCore, OpenIndiana, OmniOS and SmartOS.
3. Use cases:
Although there is a desktop-option with OpenIndiana, Solaris was developed by Sun to be a Enterprise Server OS with stability and performance at first place, best for:
NAS
-Windows SMB Fileserver (AD, ACL kompatible, Snaps via previous version )
SAN
-NFS and FC/ iSCSI Storage
Web
-AMP Stack (Apache, mySQL, PHP)
Backup and Archiv
-Snapshots , Online File-Checks with Data Refresh , Checksum
Some Systems can be used as appliances and managed remotely via Browser and Web-Gui. They run on real hardware or virtualized, best on ESXi with pci-passthrough to SAS Controller and disks.
4. Hardware:
See my build examples
http://www.napp-it.org/doc/downloads/napp-it_build_examples.pdf
5. manual ZFS Server Installation
Download the ISO or USB image, boot from it and install the OS to boot-drive.
Use the whole boot disk. Installation is easy.
see http://napp-it.org/doc/downloads/napp-it.pdf
You can also install the OS as a virtualized SAN.
(All-In-One, Virtual Server + SAN + virtual network switch in a box)
see http://napp-it.org/doc/downloads/napp-in-one.pdf
6. After OS setup, setup the storage appliance (CLI as root)
wget -O - www.napp-it.org/nappit | perl
You can now manage your NAS-appliance via http://ip:81
thats all. Install + setup your ZFS-Server -ready to use- in about 30 min.
7. napp-it to Go
As an alternative to the manual setup, you can use preconfigured images, either a template for ESXi or system images that you can clone to a new Sata boot SSD.
Gea
Last edited: