An Introduction to ZFS
So has anyone here used zfs and btrfs and would like to comment on the differences? I&#x27;ve been on a heavy zfs kick lately, but the performance loss is hard to stomach and the only research I found points to btrfs being faster (though of course they both take a hit).<p>Basically the reasons I&#x27;m drawn to zfs are:<p>- checksumming &amp; self-healing<p>- ergonomics &amp; flexibility of managing pools with zfs<p>- copy on write for cheap local copy&#x2F;experimentation (i.e. just clone your DB folder and you have a new DB)<p>- zfs send&#x2F;recv for very efficient incremental backups<p>From what I can find it seems like btrfs does all that, and faster[0]. In addition to being faster, it also is in-kernel[1], and more flexible for the user in various ways, for example allowing resizing[2]. Looking around btrfs may not be blessed as stable but there are a lot of big orgs using it.<p>All that said, there are articles like this one[3] which are somewhat dated but paint ZFS really positively from a maintenance point of view. Very hard to pick between these two.<p>I&#x27;d really like to use ZFS -- the community seems very welcoming and amazing but I&#x27;m a little worried about picking the wrong tool for the job.<p>[EDIT] - there&#x27;s also this old comparison from phoronix[1] which is confusing. I&#x27;m still learning towards ZFS but sure would like to hear some strong opinions if anyone has em.<p>[0]: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.diva-portal.org&#x2F;smash&#x2F;get&#x2F;diva2:822493&#x2F;FULLTEXT01.pdf" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.diva-portal.org&#x2F;smash&#x2F;get&#x2F;diva2:822493&#x2F;FULLTEXT0...</a><p>[1]: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;btrfs.wiki.kernel.org&#x2F;index.php&#x2F;FAQ#Is_btrfs_stable.3F" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;btrfs.wiki.kernel.org&#x2F;index.php&#x2F;FAQ#Is_btrfs_stable....</a><p>[2]: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;markmcb.com&#x2F;2020&#x2F;01&#x2F;07&#x2F;five-years-of-btrfs&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;markmcb.com&#x2F;2020&#x2F;01&#x2F;07&#x2F;five-years-of-btrfs&#x2F;</a><p>[3]: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;rudd-o.com&#x2F;linux-and-free-software&#x2F;ways-in-which-zfs-is-better-than-btrfs" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;rudd-o.com&#x2F;linux-and-free-software&#x2F;ways-in-which-zfs...</a><p>[4]: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.phoronix.com&#x2F;scan.php?page=article&amp;item=freebsd-12-zfs&amp;num=2" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.phoronix.com&#x2F;scan.php?page=article&amp;item=freebsd-...</a>