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Apple discontinues ZFS project, turns attention to own next-gen file system

Saturday, October 24, 2009 · 12:02 pm · 32 Comments

Apple has posted a notice on their ZFS open source site that states:

The ZFS project has been discontinued. The mailing list and repository will also be removed shortly.

One reason for dropping ZFS could be due to licensing problems with Sun who was recently acquired by Oracle, but isn’t Larry Steve’s good buddy?

Daring Fireball’s John Gruber writes that the real reason could be the “NetApp patent lawsuit against ZFS.”

“The flip side is that I’ve heard that Apple’s file systems team is full steam ahead on their own next-generation file system,” Gruber reports. “And, perhaps not coincidentally, they’re hiring.”

Full article here.

[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader "Fred Mertz" for the heads up.]

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Comment Feed

32 Comments

1 2 Next »

Snow Leopard

Saturday, October 24, 2009 - 12:15 pm · Reply

I guess ZFS was overrated!
Solaris SA for 15 years

Saturday, October 24, 2009 - 12:35 pm · Reply

1st poster is a clueless moron. People that use ZFS on production solaris systems know what a loss this is to OSX.
Lava_Head

Saturday, October 24, 2009 - 12:36 pm · Reply

More to the point WTF is ZFS lol
Gabriel

Saturday, October 24, 2009 - 12:36 pm · Reply

AppleInsider has some further insights on what might be going on – including Oracle already working on their own next-gen filesystem with BTRFS, thus casting doubt on whether an Oracle-owned Sun would continue fighting for, or working on, ZFS.
CandTsmac

Saturday, October 24, 2009 - 12:37 pm · Reply

@ Lava_Head

http://justfuckinggoogleit.com/
Gib707

Saturday, October 24, 2009 - 1:03 pm · Reply

What the Frick bones is zfs
( new to apples special words and abbreviations)
Boghog

Saturday, October 24, 2009 - 1:07 pm · Reply

Or Sun licensing fees were too high and Apple figure for that price, they could develop their own. This does set Apple back however.
Pete Lozzi

Saturday, October 24, 2009 - 1:08 pm · Reply

Who is Fred Mertz and why is he always giving MDN the “Heads Up.”
Boghog

Saturday, October 24, 2009 - 1:26 pm · Reply

According to an anonymous poster at Slashdot:

Apple’s CoreOS team includes several of the lead engineers from the ZFS project

I cannot vouch for the authenticity of the above, but if true, this would explain a lot.
bon

Saturday, October 24, 2009 - 2:11 pm · Reply

@all who are asking:

ZFS is a next gen file system that was rumored to replace HFS+ that is currently OS X’s file system.
Shadowself

Saturday, October 24, 2009 - 2:15 pm · Reply

@ Solaris SA for 15 years

Apple pulling ZFS development is not a loss for 95+% (maybe even 99%) of OS X users — even OS X Server users. ZFS had distinct advantages when used with server farms. It had a few minor advantages when a user had a handful of disks. It had minimal advantages for the majority of Mac OS X users who have one hard drive and one backup hard drive. Losing ZFS is not *that* big a deal.

Hopefully Apple has something already in the works to replace HFS+. We’ll all need it in five years or so, but right now HFS+ suffices for at least 95% of Mac OS X users.
I'm a PC

Saturday, October 24, 2009 - 2:34 pm · Reply

Haha suck it Mactards!

http://www.bing.com When it comes to decisions that matter, Bing & Decide
Planar

Saturday, October 24, 2009 - 2:38 pm · Reply

I read a good discussion of this today,

http://www.derekunderwood.com/general-computer/reasons-why-apple-has-abandoned-zfs/

Although, I think Apple just doesn’t want to spend time on ZFS and doesn’t think its that important.
disposableidentity

Saturday, October 24, 2009 - 2:47 pm · Reply

@ Shadowself, agreed — but Apple better be working damn hard on that replacement technology. If Apple could make an all-in-one MacMini Server / 8-slot Drobo-like unit ASAP, I have a couple dozen friends who would buy it in a second.
Jim - TIV

Saturday, October 24, 2009 - 2:54 pm · Reply

I wonder if “I’m A PC” knows that all of the artwork for BING.com is created on a Mac.
DLMeyer

Saturday, October 24, 2009 - 3:07 pm · Reply

While I think Shadowself has over-stated the case, it’s true. ZFS is mainly useful for LARGE file systems. What’s more, for systems of Large Files.
As for I’m a PC, it isn’t like Windows offers a better option.
For the crowd mentioning Licensing Issues, isn’t the NetApp problem about Sun placing a NetApp IP in Open Source? Right now Sun is ahead, but that could change … Monday.
disposableidentity offered another good point, while supporting Shadowself – Apple NEEDS a next-gen File System. If not the excellent ZFS, then something much like it. The sooner the better. They have been selling Servers for years, SANS for about as long, and have just brought out the Mac mini Server. These are all pretty much limited to SOHO or Department installations without a new File System.
Brau

Saturday, October 24, 2009 - 3:21 pm · Reply

Wow. It’s truly amazing how things in the tech world can change so fast after being liberally hyped as a sure thing for the last three years. Early SL builds included ZFS only to have it stripped *just* before it went to market, and now it’s dead in shark infested waters. There’s probably some good news behind this cutthroat death though; Apple clearly knows where they’re going and has decided they have something better to get them there.
drhufufur

Saturday, October 24, 2009 - 4:20 pm · Reply

Surely they would look to leverage XSAN in some way? Correct me if I’m wrong, but in its current incarnation, ZFS is NOT a cluster filesystem so XSAN has an advantage in that respect.
DogGone

Saturday, October 24, 2009 - 5:22 pm · Reply

@ Pete,
Not too sure who Fred is but if he is willing to give head to get his name on a website then that’s up to him.

After all it’s a free world…until you have to pay for it.
Mr. Reeee

Saturday, October 24, 2009 - 5:37 pm · Reply

From my understanding, ZFS has more of a server orientation… fixed computers and storage, so it may not have handled the Mac scenario as well.

Macs are regularly connecting/disconnecting external hard drives and many use external drives to augment their internal storage, so weren’t there questions as to the viability of ZFS in that type of Mac environment?

Are the ZFS licensing terms so Draconian that it’ll be cheaper over the long haul for Apple will spend tens of millions to develop their own file system?

I have the feeling we’re NOT getting the whole story.