TheVERITAS File System(orVxFS;calledJFSandOnlineJFSinHP-UX) is anextent-basedfile system.It was originally developed byVERITAS Software.[1]Through anOEMagreement, VxFS is used as the primary filesystem of theHP-UXoperating system.With on-linedefragmentationand resize support turned on via license, it is known asOnlineJFS.[2] It is also supported onAIX,Linux,Solaris,OpenSolaris,SINIX/Reliant UNIX,UnixWareandSCO OpenServer.[citation needed]VxFS was originally developed forAT&T'sUnix System Laboratories.VxFS is packaged as a part of theVeritas Storage Foundation(which also includesVeritas Volume Manager).
| Full name | VERITAS File System |
|---|---|
| Introduced | 1991 |
| Structures | |
| Directory contents | extensible hash |
| Limits | |
| Max volume size | 277bytes(128 ZiB) |
| Max file size | 263bytes(8 EiB) |
| Max filename length | 256 bytes |
| Features | |
| Forks | yes |
| Attributes | Extended file attributes |
| File system permissions | Unix permissions,ACL |
| Transparent compression | No |
| Transparent encryption | No |
| Other | |
| Supported operating systems | Linux,Solaris,HP-UX,AIX,SINIX,UnixWare |
History
editAccording to the vendor, it was the first commercialjournaling file system.[3] That claim can be taken in two ways, i.e., the first implementation of a journaling file system in a commercial context, or the first file system available as an unbundled product.
Dan Korenis cited as one of the original developers of VxFS.[4] He notes in a mailing list that they "finished release 1.0 one year or so later" after starting development of VxFS under a contract withAT&T Corporationin 1990.[5]Other sources agree that the product was first released in 1991.[6][7]
As the internet was not widely available in the early 1990s, getting a new file system deployed for Unix-like operating systems was more difficult, so the one- to two-year delay in the release and commercialization of this file system was not unusual.[citation needed]
Version history
editThe on-disk layout of VxFS is versioned and upgradeable while the file system is mounted. This file system has gone through ten versions.
- Version 2 added support for filesets, dynamic inode allocation and ACLs. Layouts 1-3 stopped being supported in VxFS 4.0.
- Version 4 added support for storage checkpoints and forVeritas Cluster File System.Version 4 was released in VxFS 3.2.1. Layout version 4 is no longer supported under VxFS 5.1.[8]
- Version 5 started support for file systems up to 32terabytes(245bytes) in size. Individual files can be up to 2 terabytes in size. Version 5 was introduced in VxFS 3.5 and is no longer supported under VxFS 5.1.[8]
- Version 6 added support for file systems and files up to 8exabytes(263bytes) in size. Version 6 also introduced support fornamed streams/resource forks,for multiple underlying volumes, and forfile change logs.Version 6 was introduced in VxFS 4.0.
- Version 7 extends support for multiple volumes to permit Dynamic Storage Tiering. Dynamic Storage Tiering allows root users to move files among different volumes, allocate files to different volumes at file creation time based on policy, and independently recover volumes, without altering the namespace of the file system. Version 7 was introduced in VxFS 5.0.
- Version 8 enables support for file-level snapshots and shared extents. Version 8 was introduced in VxFS 5.1.
- Version 9 enables support for file compression, deduplication, and partition directories. Version 9 was introduced in VxFS 6.0.
- Version 10 enables support for maxlink, which permits a directory to contain more than 64K subdirectories. Version 10 was introduced in VxFS 6.1.
Parallel access mode
editVxFS file system can run insingle instance modeor in aparallel access / cluster mode.The parallel mode allows for multiple servers (also known as cluster nodes) to simultaneously access the same file system. When run in this mode, VxFS is referred to asVeritas Cluster File System.
TheCluster File Systemprovides cache coherency andPOSIXcompliance across nodes, so that data changes are atomically seen by all cluster nodes simultaneously. Because Cluster File System shares the same binaries and same on-disk layout as single instance VxFS, moving between cluster and single instance mode is straightforward.
See also
editReferences
edit- ^"Incrementally restoring a mass storage device to a prior state".2005-03-22. Archived fromthe originalon 2008-03-09.Retrieved2007-11-21.
- ^Donna Yobs (2000-04-10)."Post in the veritas-vx mailing list explaining the differences between JFS and OJFS".Archived fromthe originalon 2008-03-09.Retrieved2007-11-21.
- ^"VERITAS Foundation Suite and Foundation Suite HA 3.5"(PDF).VERITAS. Archived fromthe original(PDF)on 2003-10-25.Retrieved2007-11-21.
- ^"6th International Linux Kongress".1999-09-09.Retrieved2007-11-21.
- ^Dan Koren (1999-06-01)."Re: XFS and journalling filesystems".LKML.org.Retrieved2007-11-21.
- ^"Next-Gen File Systems — File under 'futuristic': An overview of the technologies and players — The Heavy Hitters: Veritas".Byte and Switch. 2002-11-14. Archived fromthe originalon 2008-03-09.Retrieved2007-11-21.
- ^"VERITAS Celebrates 15 Years - Next Big Focus: Grid Computing".SYS-CON. 2004-09-14. Archived fromthe originalon 2008-03-11.Retrieved2007-11-21.
- ^ab"Veritas File Systems with Disk Layout Version 4 or Version 5 Cannot be Mounted or Upgraded with Veritas File System Release 5.1".Archived fromthe originalon July 16, 2011.