Abstract
As file-based data continues to grow and consume storage resources in the enterprise, datacenter managers
are turning to the Solaris™ 10 Operating System, OpenSolaris™ operating system, and Solaris ZFS™ file system to
help streamline storage management. Now, new features and enhancements in the Solaris ZFS file system can
help companies take advantage of open storage platforms, enhance data services, and ease administration, as
evidenced by many Sun customers worldwide.
THE LAST WORD IN FILE SYSTEMS
JUST GOT BETTER
Solaris ZFS™ File System Features and Enhancements in the
Solaris™ Operating System for Enterprise Users
White Paper
September 2008
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Sun Microsystems, Inc.
Table of Contents
Chapter 1: Changing the Way Data is Managed ................................................1
Changing Minds ................................................................................................. 2
Gaining Momentum ............................................................................................ 2
Delivering on the Promise of Open Storage ........................................................... 3
Chapter 2: The Solaris ZFS File System .............................................................. 4
What Makes the Solaris ZFS File System Different .................................................. 4
Integrated Volume Management and Virtual Storage Pools .............................. 4
Data Integrity ................................................................................................. 5
Simplified Administration ................................................................................ 5
New Features in the Solaris OS 10/08 Release ....................................................... 5
Bootability...................................................................................................... 5
Storage Features and Enhancements ................................................................ 6
Data Services Enhancements ........................................................................... 6
Administration Features .................................................................................. 7
An Open Source Community for Storage ............................................................... 8
Chapter 3: The Solaris ZFS File System at Work .................................................. 9
Sapotek Inc. ....................................................................................................... 9
University of Calgary ........................................................................................... 9
Dow Corning Corporation .................................................................................. 10
Nomura Bank (Switzerland) Ltd. ........................................................................ 10
DigiTar ............................................................................................................. 11
Chapter 4: For More Information ................................................................... 12
Sun Microsystems, Inc.1 The Last Word in File Systems Just Got Better
Chapter 1
Changing the Way Data is Managed
Traditional data sources, as well as electronic mail (email), electronic documents,
articles, blogs, spreadsheets, presentations, video clips, and more provide valuable
information to enterprises. The continued expansion and reliance on such file-based
information is anticipated to have a dramatic impact on businesses. Indeed, IDC
estimates that more than half of the petabytes of storage capacity purchased in 2008
is slated to hold file-level data. This trend is expected to accelerate, with file-based
data consuming over 75 percent of new storage capacity in 2011.
As file-level data continues to consume a greater portion of disk storage capacity,
datacenter managers must allocate more planning and storage resources to the
management and protection of large pools of file-based information that is so critical
to the enterprise. In fact, the management and organization of such information
is rapidly becoming the primary task for storage administrators in corporate
datacenters. Administrators now are focused on finding ways to ensure files can be
stored, accessed, retained, and retrieved to meet user demand. Assessing storage
system performance, handling storage provisioning and legacy storage retirement,
and archiving infrequently accessed information for changing business and
regulatory purposes are essential elements of successful storage management.
Today, organizations looking to consolidate systems or reduce management
complexity rely on third-party solutions that deliver file services. Yet exponential
growth in the amount and type of unstructured data is changing organizational
needs for file services — needs these solutions often fail to address. For example,
companies are looking to optimize performance and capacity utilization based on
the type, size, or read/write access requirements for files. Intelligent features, such
as automatic file migration, protection, and policy-based recovery are emerging as
capabilities that datacenter managers recognize can change the way cost-effective
storage management is done. As a result, enterprises need more than basic file
systems and data copy functions — a wider array of file services is needed to meet
increasingly complex needs.
The right answer is to integrate file services into the operating system. Because the
operating system occupies a critical position in the computing system hierarchy —
below applications and above hardware — it can integrate data services directly in
the operating system and provide an ideal platform for network attached storage
(NAS) appliances or storage servers. Now, both the Solaris™ 10 Operating System
(OS) and OpenSolaris™ operating system include built-in file services to support
applications with data integrity, simplified data management, and integrated
volume management. Integrating the Solaris ZFS™ file system, these operating
systems are changing the way datacenters approach file-based storage management.
Sun Microsystems, Inc.2 The Last Word in File Systems Just Got Better
1. Source: http://www.sun.com/customers/software/ourstage.xml
OurStage Business Results
OurStage migrated from Linux to the
OpenSolaris operating system and Solaris
ZFS file system and:
• IncreasedI/Operformance
• Easedsystemadministrationwith
improved management tools
• Scaleditsstorageplatform
• ImprovedWebandapplicationservers
Changing Minds
Over the last few years, companies deployed the Linux operating environment in
an effort take advantage of open source community innovation and lower licensing
costs. However, enterprises are now recognizing that the storage performance and
scalability characteristics of the Linux environment and its tools are hampering
datacenter effectiveness. Today, many of these organizations are turning to
Sun’s operating system distributions to take advantage of Solaris ZFS file system
innovation and reduce storage management complexity. With this groundbreaking
technology that automates common administrative tasks, protects data from
corruption, and provides virtually unlimited scalability, datacenters are reaping the
benefits of better and more cost-effective data management.
For example, OurStage moved its production storage systems to the OpenSolaris
operating system to improve load balancing and I/O performance
1
. An online music
discovery company, OurStage hosts a Web site that gives artists a chance to have
their work seen and heard. From the beginning, the OurStage IT infrastructure ran its
production site and application servers on the Linux environment. About six months
after going live with its Web site, OurStage began experiencing problems with
storage I/O performance on its network file server due to sluggish Linux Network File
System (NFS) performance.
With Web traffic rising, OurStage began looking at alternative storage solutions,
and turned to the Solaris ZFS file system on the OpenSolaris operating system. After
testing proved that the OpenSolaris operating system provided better load balancing
capabilities and could scale easily to meet future needs, it was an easy decision for
the company to switch its production storage systems to the OpenSolaris platform.
Since then, the company has built two more storage systems, each supporting 16 TB
of capacity. As a result, OurStage was able to deploy fewer servers, keeping hardware
and administrative costs down and the storage environment simple.
According to Mark Niedzielski, infrastructure manager at OurStage, “With ZFS, I can
manipulate large numbers of disks easily and predictably with just one tool set. In
contrast, to manage a Linux system, separate tools are required for the file system,
volume management, RAID hardware, the operating system, and smart monitoring
tools. The Linux tools all work together, but that’s more by happenstance than by
design. One set of tools in ZFS takes care of all of that, top to bottom. And frankly, in
my mind, that’s what makes OpenSolaris an enterprise solution.”
Gaining Momentum
For over 15 years, the Solaris OS has provided the foundation for enterprise
computing environments. Now, the Solaris ecosystem consists of the Solaris 10 OS
and the OpenSolaris operating system. A proven, industry-leading environment,
the Solaris 10 OS provides the latest updates to supplement existing Solaris OS
