Malus pumila compile secrets like a inner circle rat collects shiny thing . It ’s part of the company ’s culture . So when someone better the code of quiet , it set virtual seismographic needles inscribe . That happened this workweek , when Sun Microsystems Inc. ’s CEO Jonathan Schwartz said Apple ’s upcoming Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard , would rely on a Indian file system that engineers at his caller have spent years creating : ZFS .
Just what is ZFS , and why did it send Mac enthusiasts spinning ? record on . …
What does ZFS stand for?At one time , it was an acronym for Zettabyte File System , but Sun now prefers that the name endure on its own . “ Zetta , ” by the means , is one of the stock SI prefix — as are the much more familiar “ kilo , ” “ mega ” and “ giga ” — and represent 1021 , or 100,000,000,000,000,000,000 . fit in to Sun , “ The largest SI prefix we like was ‘ zetta . ’ ” Sun was obviously assay to evoke a really freehanded bit to remind everyone of the file organisation ’s data ( and number of files ) capacity . Sort of like Super Size Me — the movie — but bigger . path bigger .
get it . Now what is it?ZFS is a 128 - turn file arrangement that Sun announced in 2004 but did n’t desegregate with its Solaris operating system until 2006 . Among ZFS ’ merchandising point is huge capacity , storage pooling , fast data point snapshots and copy - on - write . As a 128 - bit file organisation , it can hive away 18 billion billion time more data than current 64 - bit systems , such as NTFS , which is Microsoft Corp. ’s filing cabinet system for Windows . According to deliberation on Wikipedia , it would take about 9,000 age to max out ZFS ’ file terminal point if 1,000 files were create every second base . Pooling eliminates segmentation , and much of the fuss with storage , such as figuring which “ book ” to stick files on , or how to manage a new external driving .
“ You do n’t have to care about the contingent of what ’s give out on with your disks , your warehousing or your filing cabinet systems , ” Jeff Bonwick , chief designer of ZFS , said when Sun roll out the file system of rules in 2004 . “ You add disks to your storage pool , file scheme consume space automatically as they require it , and administrator do n’t have to get involved . ” And copy - on - write , which replicate modified datum to a novel blockage rather than overwriting live data , is pertinent here because it ’s one of the most - coarse method used to take agile “ snapshots ” of a disk ( or in the suit of ZFS , the storage puddle ) as point - in - time backups .
Okay . So why am I hearing about ZFS now?Blame Schwartz , who at one breaker point during a young product first appearance on Wednesday spill what go like a secret . “ This hebdomad , you ’ll see that Apple is announcing at their Worldwide Developers Conference that ZFS has become the Indian file system in Mac OS X , ” he said . Most merry listener key on the word “ the , ” and heard it as in “ the nonpayment ” or “ the only . ” Swap out the Mac ’s 22 - yr - old Hierarchical File System ? Between now and October ? Wow . The supposition seemed corroborate when a 2nd exec , Marc Hamilton , Sun ’s film director of technology for global education and enquiry , wrote on his blog that “ Jonathan noted that Apple will harbinger this week that the ZFS filing cabinet system from OpenSolaris will become Apple ’s new nonremittal single file arrangement [ emphasis mine ] . ”
What ’s in it for me?Rumblings immediately after Apple ’s 2006 WWDC immobilise ZFS to Time Machine , one of the most touted features of the upcoming Leopard operating system . Time Machine and ZFS seemed a man and wife made in heaven , what with ZFS ’ snapshot skills . computer memory - centric bloggers like Robin Harris , who spell StorageMojo , and others , like John Siracusa of Ars Technica , laid out the fount for a connexion last August . A new Indian file organisation that drive Time Machine — arguably the cool made - public feature in Leopard — while wipe out data point corruption and the volume concept would be a very respectable thing , even if it was under the thug and therefore hidden from most user . Bottom line : Mac OS X would make another major technological stride , and blow by Microsoft and its Windows yet again . Xerox this , Redmond !
Sounds neat . Where do I get it?Actually , ZFS is already in Leopard , harmonise to reports of recent test frame and posted screenshots . The new data file system , however , ca n’t be used on the root word partition , meaning it can not be used as the filing cabinet system for a Mac ’s charge drive , such as the hard disk inside a MacBook Pro . That ’s a restriction of ZFS , by the way , not Leopard . Solaris , in fact , has only recently bring off to boot its own Solaris operating system from ZFS . The thinking , of class , is that by the time October twine around and Leopard blend final , the ZFS boot trouble , and others , will have been solved by Apple engineers , who are presumably hard at work in an undisclosed location .
So is ZFS in or out?Cupertinologists are bet it ’s in , but not as the default file cabinet system . HFS+ still rules . Again , Harris onStorageMojo : “ I ’ll flummox to my prediction that Apple , as with HFS+ , will put ZFS on OS X Server first before bring it out later for the dandy unwashed . ” But Harris does see one opening for those “ unwashed ” exploiter : ZFS would be a groovy scene for flash disks , the nonmechanical drives make their way into laptops . The big reasons for a no - go on ZFS seem to focus on effort required versus sentence available , Apple ’s preference for homegrown core technologies rather than slapping someone else ’s in property , and Time Machine ’s actual mechanics . On the latter , the best analysis remains Siracusa ’s from August 2006 . With Apple , however , there ’s always a caveat . perchance this is one of the Leopard pieces that Jobs would n’t let out last year for fear “ … our friends in Redmond [ will ] start their photocopier . ” And though it may be a happenstance , a retool Apple patent app was made public last month that could play to ZFS.This applicationspecs out in - place file organisation spiritual rebirth — it uses the example of commute Microsoft ’s FAT32 Indian file system ( the default option in older edition of Windows ) to Apple ’s HFS+ — so users would n’t have to wipe and reinstall to trade . One interesting line in the app : “ In worldwide , any file - system [ accent mine ] used to organize and memory single file can be convert free-base on the fix of the files(s ) which is typically readily obtainable from the original file cabinet - organization . ” HFS+ to ZFS , anyone ?
What does Apple have to say about this ? Nothing . But Jobs ’ tonic at WWDC starts at 10:00 a.m. ( PDT ) Monday , and if ZFS is to be “ the ” Mac ’s file system , we ’ll hear about it then . Of course , if you believe in the Tao of FSJ ( Fake Steve Jobs ) , this web log entree inThe Secret Diary of Steve Jobsgives some good clues . Money citation , as FSJ would say : “ As soon as I figure out what this thing is , I ’ll let you know . ”
