All Topics  
VERITAS File System

 

   Email Print
   Bookmark   Link






 

VERITAS File System



 
 
The VERITAS File System, (or VxFS, called JFS and OJFS in HP-UX
HP-UX

HP-UX 11i is Hewlett-Packard's proprietary software implementation of the Unix operating system, based on UNIX System V . It runs on the HP 9000 PA-RISC-based range of central processing unit and HP Integrity Intel's Itanium-based systems, and was also available for later Apollo/Domain systems....
  ), is an extent-based file system
File system

In computing, a file system is a method for store and organize computer files and the data they contain to make it easy to find and access them....
. It was originally developed by VERITAS Software
VERITAS Software

Veritas Software Corp. was an international software company that was founded in 1983 as Tolerant Systems, renamed Veritas Software Corp. in 1989, and merged with Symantec in 2005....
. Through an OEM
Original Equipment Manufacturer

OEM stands for "Original Equipment Manufacturer".An original equipment manufacturer, or OEM is typically a company that uses a component made by a second company in its own product, or sells the product of the second company under its own brand....
 agreement, VxFS is used as the primary filesystem of the HP-UX
HP-UX

HP-UX 11i is Hewlett-Packard's proprietary software implementation of the Unix operating system, based on UNIX System V . It runs on the HP 9000 PA-RISC-based range of central processing unit and HP Integrity Intel's Itanium-based systems, and was also available for later Apollo/Domain systems....
 operating system
Operating system

An operating system is an interface between hardware and applications; it is responsible for the management and coordination of activities and the sharing of the limited resources of the computer....
, although HP-UX calls it JFS. With on-line defragmentation
Defragmentation

In the context of administering computer systems, defragmentation is a process that reduces the amount of file system fragmentation in file systems....
 and resize support turned on via license, it is known as OJFS. It is also supported on AIX
AIX operating system

AIX is the name given to a series of Proprietary software operating systems sold by IBM for several of its computer system platforms, based on UNIX System V with 4.3BSD-compatible command and programming interface extensions....
, Linux
Linux

Linux is a generic term referring to Unix-like computer operating systems based on the Linux kernel. Their development is one of the most prominent examples of free and open source software collaboration; typically all the underlying source code can be used, freely modified, and redistributed by anyone under the terms of the GNU GPL license...
, Solaris, SINIX
SINIX

SINIX was a version of the Unix operating system from Siemens Nixdorf Informationssysteme. Supersedes SIRM OS and Pyramid Technology's DC/OSx. Its last release under the SINIX name was version 5.43 in 1995....
/Reliant UNIX and UnixWare
UnixWare

UnixWare is a Unix operating system maintained by The SCO Group . Unixware is typically deployed as a Server rather than Desktop computer. Binary distributions of UnixWare are available for x86 architecture computers....
 .






Discussion
Ask a question about 'VERITAS File System'
Start a new discussion about 'VERITAS File System'
Answer questions from other users
Full Discussion Forum



Recent Posts









Encyclopedia


The VERITAS File System, (or VxFS, called JFS and OJFS in HP-UX
HP-UX

HP-UX 11i is Hewlett-Packard's proprietary software implementation of the Unix operating system, based on UNIX System V . It runs on the HP 9000 PA-RISC-based range of central processing unit and HP Integrity Intel's Itanium-based systems, and was also available for later Apollo/Domain systems....
  ), is an extent-based file system
File system

In computing, a file system is a method for store and organize computer files and the data they contain to make it easy to find and access them....
. It was originally developed by VERITAS Software
VERITAS Software

Veritas Software Corp. was an international software company that was founded in 1983 as Tolerant Systems, renamed Veritas Software Corp. in 1989, and merged with Symantec in 2005....
. Through an OEM
Original Equipment Manufacturer

OEM stands for "Original Equipment Manufacturer".An original equipment manufacturer, or OEM is typically a company that uses a component made by a second company in its own product, or sells the product of the second company under its own brand....
 agreement, VxFS is used as the primary filesystem of the HP-UX
HP-UX

HP-UX 11i is Hewlett-Packard's proprietary software implementation of the Unix operating system, based on UNIX System V . It runs on the HP 9000 PA-RISC-based range of central processing unit and HP Integrity Intel's Itanium-based systems, and was also available for later Apollo/Domain systems....
 operating system
Operating system

An operating system is an interface between hardware and applications; it is responsible for the management and coordination of activities and the sharing of the limited resources of the computer....
, although HP-UX calls it JFS. With on-line defragmentation
Defragmentation

In the context of administering computer systems, defragmentation is a process that reduces the amount of file system fragmentation in file systems....
 and resize support turned on via license, it is known as OJFS. It is also supported on AIX
AIX operating system

AIX is the name given to a series of Proprietary software operating systems sold by IBM for several of its computer system platforms, based on UNIX System V with 4.3BSD-compatible command and programming interface extensions....
, Linux
Linux

Linux is a generic term referring to Unix-like computer operating systems based on the Linux kernel. Their development is one of the most prominent examples of free and open source software collaboration; typically all the underlying source code can be used, freely modified, and redistributed by anyone under the terms of the GNU GPL license...
, Solaris, SINIX
SINIX

SINIX was a version of the Unix operating system from Siemens Nixdorf Informationssysteme. Supersedes SIRM OS and Pyramid Technology's DC/OSx. Its last release under the SINIX name was version 5.43 in 1995....
/Reliant UNIX and UnixWare
UnixWare

UnixWare is a Unix operating system maintained by The SCO Group . Unixware is typically deployed as a Server rather than Desktop computer. Binary distributions of UnixWare are available for x86 architecture computers....
 . VxFS was originally developed for AT&T
AT&T

AT&T Inc. is the largest US provider of both local and long distance telephone services, and Digital subscriber line Internet access. AT&T is the second largest provider of wireless service in the United States, with over 77 million wireless customers, and more than 150 million total customers....
's Unix System Laboratories
Unix System Laboratories

Unix System Laboratories or USL was originally organized as part of Bell Labs in 1989. USL joined with the UNIX Software Operation, also a Bell Laboratories division, in 1990....
. VxFS is packaged as a part of the Veritas Storage Foundation
Veritas Storage Foundation

Veritas Software Storage Foundation, previously known as Veritas Foundation Suite, combines Veritas Volume Manager and Veritas File System to provide a complete solution for online storage management....
 (which also includes Veritas Volume Manager
Veritas Volume Manager

The Veritas Volume Manager, VVM or VxVM is a proprietary software logical volume management from Veritas Software . It is available for Microsoft Windows, AIX Operating System, Solaris , Linux, and HP-UX....
).

History

According to the vendor, it was the first commercial journaling file system
Journaling file system

A journaling file system is a file system that logs changes to a journal before committing them to the main file system. Such file systems are less likely to become corrupted in the event of power failure or system crash....
. That claim can be taken in two ways, e.g., the first implementation of a journaling file system in a commercial context, or the first file system available as an unbundled product. Dan Koren is cited as one of the original developers of VxFS. 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 with AT&T
AT&T

AT&T Inc. is the largest US provider of both local and long distance telephone services, and Digital subscriber line Internet access. AT&T is the second largest provider of wireless service in the United States, with over 77 million wireless customers, and more than 150 million total customers....
 in 1990. Other sources agree that the product was first released in 1991.

Versions

  • VERITAS File System 5.0
    • Release date: July 2006
  • VERITAS File System 4.1
    • Release date: March 2005
  • VERITAS File System 4.0
    • Release date: February 2004
  • VERITAS File System 3.5
    • Release date: August 2002
  • VERITAS File System 3.4
    • Release date: December 2000


Layout versions


The on-disk layout of VxFS is versioned and upgradeable while the file system is mounted. It has gone through seven versions.

Layout version 2 added support for ACLs. Layouts 1-3 stopped being supported in VxFS 4.0.

Layout version 4 added support for storage checkpoints and for Veritas Cluster File System
Veritas Cluster File System

The Veritas Cluster File System, , is a cache coherent POSIX compliant shared file system built based upon VERITAS File System. It is distributed with a built-in Cluster Volume Manager and components of other VERITAS Storage Foundation products - particularly VERITAS Cluster Server, VERITAS File System, and VERITAS Volume Manager....
. Version 4 was released in VxFS 3.2.1.

Layout version 5 supports file systems up to 32 terabyte
Terabyte

A terabyte is a measurement term for computer storage. The value of a terabyte based upon a decimal radix is defined as one 1000000000000 bytes, or 1000 gigabytes....
s in size. Individual files can be up to 2 terabytes in size. Version 5 was introduced in VxFS 3.5.

Layout version 6 supports file systems and files up to 8 exabyte
Exabyte

An exabyte is a unit of information or computer storage equal to one quintillion bytes. It is commonly abbreviated EB. When used with byte multiples, the SI prefix may indicate a power of either 1000 or 1024, so the exact number may be either:...
s in size. Version 6 also introduced support for named streams/resource forks
Fork (filesystem)

In computer file systems, a fork is additional data associated with a file system object. A file system might support only one fork per file or might support multiple named forks....
, for multiple underlying volumes, and for file change logs
File change log

A file change log tracks changes to the namespace of a file system. Depending on the implementation, a file change Data logging will record changes such as creates, links, unlinks , renamed files, data changes, and metadata changes ....
. Version 6 was introduced in VxFS 4.0.

Layout 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

Parallel access mode


VxFS can run in single instance mode or in a parallel access/cluster file system mode. This latter 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 as VERITAS Cluster File System
Veritas Cluster File System

The Veritas Cluster File System, , is a cache coherent POSIX compliant shared file system built based upon VERITAS File System. It is distributed with a built-in Cluster Volume Manager and components of other VERITAS Storage Foundation products - particularly VERITAS Cluster Server, VERITAS File System, and VERITAS Volume Manager....
. Cluster File System provides cache coherency and POSIX
POSIX

POSIX or "Portable Operating System Interface" is the collective name of a family of related standardizations specified by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers to define the application programming interface , along with shell and utilities interfaces for software compatible with variants of the Unix operating system, altho...
 compliance 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

  • Comparison of file systems
    Comparison of file systems

    The following tables compare general and technical information for a number of file systems....
  • Veritas Operations Services from Symantec
    Veritas Operations Services from Symantec

    Overview Veritas Operations Services is a suite of web-based applications that helps you assess and manage Veritas Storage Foundation and High Availability products by Symantec....


External links