QFS
| Company type | Software |
|---|---|
| Industry | Computer software |
| Founded | 1999 |
| Founder | Harriet Coverston |
| Products | QFS (Quick File System), SAM (Storage and Archive Manager) |
| Parent | Oracle Corporation |
QFS (standing for Quick File System) is a file system developed by Oracle that is closely integrated with SAM, the Storage and Archive Manager, commonly referred to as SAM-QFS. SAM delivers hierarchical storage management capabilities.
Features
QFS incorporates volume management, allowing multiple disk drives to be combined into a unified file system. It separates metadata storage to enhance efficiency, particularly benefiting streaming workloads by minimizing disk seek operations.
SAM enhances QFS by seamlessly extending it to archival storage solutions, utilizing a relatively small disk cache ranging from gigabytes to terabytes, which is supported by large-scale tape or bulk storage measured in petabytes. Files are automatically archived in the background and retrieved upon request. The SAM-QFS system can maintain up to four archival copies distributed across various media types such as disk, tape, optical devices, or even remote SAM-QFS installations.
The shared QFS variant provides a global filesystem that supports multiple writers simultaneously, enabling concurrent read and write access from several machines through multi-ported disks or a storage area network. Additionally, it offers a single-writer/multi-reader configuration for disk sharing without relying on network connectivity.
History
The creation of SAM-QFS originated at Large Storage Systems (LSC), under the leadership of founder and Technology Vice President Harriet Coverston. In 2001, Sun Microsystems acquired LSC along with SAM-QFS and later released its source code to the OpenSolaris community in 2008. Following Oracle’s acquisition of Sun, development continued with the product being rebranded as Oracle HSM (Hierarchical Storage Manager).
In 2014, Versity was established by Coverston and others to introduce Versity Storage Manager (VSM), a Linux-based hierarchical storage manager built upon SAM-QFS’s codebase. Oracle declared SAM-QFS would reach end-of-life status by 2021; meanwhile, Versity provides a migration solution for current users.
References
External links
- Archived Oracle Hierarchical Storage Manager (Oracle HSM) and StorageTek Storage Archive Manager (SAM-QFS) wiki
- Archived current SAM/QFS information from Oracle
- Archived OpenSolaris SAM/QFS Project Page
- Archived LibSAM for Sun StorageTek SAM and QFS: Beyond Backup