Draft:VaultFS
| Developer(s) | Swiss Vault |
|---|---|
| Initial release | 2022-01-15 |
| Stable release | 2.1.14
/ 2025-03-24 |
| Operating system | Linux |
| Platform | x86, ARM |
| Type | Distributed file system |
| License | Proprietary |
| Website | vaultfs.io |
| Founded | 2018 |
|---|---|
| Founder | Bhupinder Bhullar (CEO), Douglas Fortune (CTO) |
| Products | Software: VaultFS, Hardware: SuperNAS |
Vault File System (also referred to as VaultFS) is a distributed file system developed by Swiss Vault Global[1]. It is designed for data archiving and scalable storage in environments requiring fault tolerance and large-scale capacity. VaultFS is primarily deployed in healthcare, scientific research, government, enterprise and data center sectors[2].
Overview
[edit]VaultFS uses a peer-to-peer distributed architecture combined with configurable erasure coding to achieve fault tolerance and optimize storage overhead[3]. The servers are Linux-based platforms and support a POSIX interface and S3-compatible object storage[2].
Features
[edit]VaultFS is based on a peer-to-peer model where all storage nodes contribute equally to data storage, metadata management, and failure recovery [3]. This design eliminates single points of failure and enables decentralized control over the file system.
The system supports dynamically customizable erasure coding targets with user-defined data (D) and parity (P) chunk parameters, allowing organizations to balance between redundancy and storage efficiency[2]. Data recovery is automatically handled by reconstructing corrupted or missing blocks from remaining data and parity chunks.
Scalability
[edit]VaultFS enables dynamic scaling by allowing the addition of drives or nodes during operation without incurring downtime. [3].
Performance
[edit]VaultFS supports parallel read and write operations and is compatible with Remote Direct Memory Access (RDMA) and RoCE to reduce network communication latency[4]. VaultFS can be benchmarked using standard tools including FIO and IOR[4].
Management Tools
[edit]VaultFS provides several administrative and monitoring utilities:
- VMAN (VaultFS Manager): Used for the configuration and management of VaultFS deployments[2].
- VMON (VaultFS Monitor): Provides system monitoring and performance metrics.
Monitoring is also integrated with Grafana and Prometheus for visualization and alerting[3].
Protocol Support
[edit]VaultFS supports standard POSIX semantics and provides an S3-compatible API for object-based storage interoperability[2].
Data Integrity and Recovery
[edit]VaultFS automatically regenerates missing or corrupted data blocks by utilizing surviving data and parity chunks[3]. Metadata distribution is decentralized to avoid central points of failure and enhance system reliability.
Applications
[edit]VaultFS is used in various domains requiring scalable and fault-tolerant storage:
- Long-term data archiving[2].
- Scientific and research data repositories[4].
- Healthcare data preservation[2].
- Enterprise and government storage[3].
- High-Performance Computing (HPC) environments[4].
Collaborations
[edit]VaultFS has been involved in collaborations with technology and data management partners, including:
- [[KWAAI.ai]] for AI-related infrastructure integration[5].
- Western Digital for joint storage solutions[6].