Write Anywhere File Layout

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WAFL

Developer	NetApp
Full name	Write Anywhere File Layout
Limits
Max volume size	up to 100 TB (limited by containing aggregate size; variable maximum depending on platform; limited to 16TB when using Deduplication{ONTAP 8.2 now supports dedup to max volume size supported on platform})
Max file size	up to 16 TB
Features
Dates recorded	atime, ctime, mtime
File system permissions	UNIX permissions and ACLs
Transparent compression	Yes (Ontap 8.0 onwards)
Transparent encryption	Yes (since Ontap 9.1; possible with 3rd party appliances like Decru DataFort for older versions)
Data deduplication	Yes (FAS Dedup: periodic online scans, block based;)
Copy-on-write	Yes
Other
Supported operating systems	ONTAP

The Write Anywhere File Layout (WAFL) is a proprietary file system that supports large, high-performance RAID arrays, quick restarts without lengthy consistency checks in the event of a crash or power failure, and growing the filesystems size quickly. It was designed by NetApp for use in its storage appliances like NetApp FAS, AFF, Cloud Volumes ONTAP and ONTAP Select.

Its author claims that WAFL is not a file system, although it includes one. It tracks changes similarly to journaling file systems as logs (known as NVLOGs) in dedicated memory storage device non-volatile random access memory, referred to as NVRAM or NVMEM. WAFL provides mechanisms that enable a variety of file systems and technologies that want to access disk blocks.

"NetApp Volume Encryption, The Nitty Gritty | IOPS.ca". 30 November 2016.

↑ Parisi, Justin (July 14, 2017). "Running VMware on ONTAP? Why you should consider upgrading to ONTAP 9.2".

↑ Official website

File System Design for an NFS File Server Appliance (PDF)